Hermione Granger and the Mysterious Locket
by Swift Emerald
Summary: Three years after the mysterious disappearance of Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger still hasn't given up hope. With the help of Harry and Ginny, Hermione embarks on the mission that will change everything. Danger awaits the trio as they go against a new formation of Death Eaters who are eager to have full control over the wizarding world. It all started with a locket.
1. The Calm Before The Storm

**So I've been working on this story for a few weeks now, and thought I'd go ahead and submit it. This isn't my first fic, I've just created a new account because it has been so long since I last posted on this website, I'd completely forgotten my password. My writing style has changed a lot since then anyway, so I guess a new pen name makes sense. I know it may be slow to start with, but I promise you many twists and turns to come later on. I have ignored anything in the epilogue for the sake of this story, as not to confuse myself with timelines and the like. I can't count very well.  
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**I suppose I should start with the obligatory disclaimer. I don't own anything or any one of these characters, save for a few characters that will be introduced in due time. Anything taken from the Harry Potter books belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling, whom I know we all love and worship.**

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Two days before her world had been torn apart, Hermione had been happier than she could ever remember being in her entire life. She, Ron and Harry had been exchanging gifts that Christmas morning. Hermione and Harry had stayed overnight at the Burrow, as had become a tradition since they had left Hogwarts. Hermione had bought Ron a vintage muggle camera as a joke. He had gone to visit Hermione's parents with her that summer, and her mother had insisted on showing Ron some photographs of Hermione. Ron had found the concept of the people in the photographs not moving hilarious. After Hermione presented him with the gift, Ron had insisted on taking a picture right then and there.

It had been two years since the final battle on the Hogwarts grounds. Two peaceful, blissful years. Hermione had no idea at the time that this calm would soon come to a disastrous end. The calm before the storm.

Tears stinging her red, bloodshot eyes, Hermione gazed down at the photograph in front of her. A tall freckled red head boy grinned a goofy grin at her from the picture, his arms draped around a black haired boy and a brown bushy-haired girl. The black haired boy had a faded lightening shaped scar on his forehead. He was holding a brand new broom, the Firebolt 720 with the same zany smile as the red haired boy. Harry, Hermione remembered, had been overjoyed with the broom that she and Ron had bought him that Christmas.

Hermione's eyes froze on the brown haired girl in the photograph. Had she really smiled like that? Two days before her world had been torn apart? A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Hermione looked up from the photograph. "Yes?" She replied.

A girl with flaming red hair, similar to the hair of the boy in the photograph, popped her head around the corner. "Am I interrupting something?" she said, with poorly disguised concern. Hermione tried to wipe her eyes quickly, but the redhead's gaze softened even more. Quickly stepping over to Hermione's side, Ginny draped her left arm over Hermione's shoulder. Ginny had become much like her mother, who always made it her personal duty to comfort and take care of others.

It had been tough on Ginny, too. In the space of two years she had lost two brothers. Hermione leaned her head on Ginny's shoulder, thankful for her supportive nature. She would have never got though it all without Harry and Ginny.

The dreaded day, three years ago, had come as a shock to everyone. Harry and Ron, two of the youngest Aurors in the Ministry of Magic, had been called away in an abrupt manner. Ron had barely had the time to say goodbye that morning, pulling on his cloak and kissing her on the cheek. Hermione remembered the sickening feeling in her stomach well as she saw the look on Ron's face. Before she had the chance to stop him, Ron had apparated with a crack. That was the last time she ever saw him.

The Hermione of the present gazed down at the ring on her finger. Ron had proposed to her after Christmas dinner at the Burrow. Despite all the teasing from his brothers, Ron had been very romantic about it. He gave a speech about love and soul mates, which had made Hermione suspect that he had asked for help from his younger sister. Still, it was lovely, and she knew that Ron still meant what he said.

"Harry's making breakfast." Ginny said softly, rubbing Hermione's shoulder gently and bringing her back to the present. Although she and Ron had bought a place of their own, Hermione had become a regular occupant in Harry and Ginny's spare room. She couldn't stand being in her own house and not having Ron there. Still, the room wouldn't be a spare room for much longer.

As Ginny stood up, Hermione took in the shape of the woman that stood before her. Her eyes fell on the graceful baby bump on Ginny's stomach, and her heart sank. Of course, she was over the moon for her best friends, but they had everything that Hermione had wanted with Ron. Ginny and Harry had been married for a year already, with their first child on the way. Not wanting to make her best friend feel guilty for having something that she couldn't have, Hermione tried to swallow her pain, and nodded in response.

The two girls rose from the small single bed they were sitting on, Ginny's hand sliding off Hermione's shoulder. Although it had been five years, Hermione still felt as though she was living life like a zombie, waiting for Ron to return. Most had given up hope, but never Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys. Hermione glanced at the small emerald locket she wore around her neck. The locket that had become her small glimmer of hope since she found it. The locket that inspired her to take Ron's place as an Auror in the Ministry of Magic.

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**So thanks for reading! Any comments / praise / constructive criticism would be appreciated! I do love reading reviews of my own work. I do know this chapter is short, I will aim to make my chapters a lot longer, I promise! This is just a taster. I'm excited about where I'm going with this, and I hope you guys enjoy it too.**


	2. The Hat of Anala

**Thanks for the feedback so far! As promised, this chapter is quite a bit longer and hopefully explains a lot! Enjoy!**

**I've had to come back and edit this one slightly, as I'd noticed a small mistake I had made. I think that it should be okay now!**

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Breakfast in the Potter household was quiet that morning. Hermione was far too involved in her own thoughts to notice the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. Ginny had gone down ahead of Hermione, most likely to warn Harry of Hermione's mood.

Harry had changed a lot on the outside over the years. Of course, he still had messy black hair that he could not control. He had traded his round, rimmed spectacles for rectangular frames, and he was no longer the scrawny little boy of Hermione's childhood. He, like Ron Hermione thought sadly, had built up quite a lot of muscle.

Hermione's mood had been up and down since Ron's disappearance, so the couple were used to being cautious around her. She just felt more down than usual the past few weeks. Hermione frowned and absent-mindedly played with the locket around her neck. Was she starting to lose hope?

The locket had arrived on her doorstep roughly a year after Ron had disappeared. It was January, and the air was still chilly, the mornings still dark. After much denial, Hermione had finally began to accept that she may never see him again. Of course, she was still in mourning. She had spent the whole year crying, waiting on him to turn up at the door in one piece.

Hermione and Ron's apartment was quite small, despite the fact that the couple both had jobs in the Ministry of Magic. They had been saving for their dream home, Hermione recalled sadly.

When she collected her post that crisp January morning, she picked up a sandy brown envelope. There was something about it that made Hermione feel uneasy. The envelope was about the size of an A3 piece of paper, and it was bumpy. Running her hand over the envelope, she had an uneasy feeling. With slight hesitation, Hermione had carried the envelope into the small kitchen and sat the envelope down on the counter in front of her. She never opened mail without doing checks on them first.

"Purcio" she whispered, swiftly swishing her wand at the mysterious mail. The envelope glowed a bright violet for two seconds, before fading back into it's original colour.

Hermione surveyed the envelope carefully. She generally kept to herself, and wasn't used to getting mail, never mind suspicious looking packages. Pursing her lips together, she lifted her wand up to the package once more. "Seira" she whispered again.

The envelope burst open, it's contents spilling out onto the kitchen counter. To Hermione's surprise, an emerald green locket lay before her. The accompanying note had been brief, but Hermione froze as she saw the handwriting.

It couldn't be.

The handwriting on the envelope was different to the one on the note. In Ron's untidy scroll, the letter read:

H,

don't open it until you find me.

Love,

R

Words couldn't describe how Hermione felt when she saw it. She got that uneasy feeling in her stomach again. She felt nauseous, scared, excited. In fact, she felt so many emotions run through her at once that she had no idea how to react. Hermione Granger, the brightest student in her own year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had no idea what this note meant. She had run her hand over the handwriting on the note, a painful surge of sadness running through her.

To this day, Hermione could never work out the cryptic words on the note. She just knew that it was written for Ron, and that it was clearly important. She had searched every book she could find on mysterious lockets, but sadly to no avail. She glanced down at the locket that she now took everywhere with her, wondering if Ron was still alive, still waiting for her to find him.

Since she received the note, she had left the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and joined Harry as an Auror. She realised she would never find Ron if she wasn't in the middle of the action. As head of the department, Reisin Hornrock had been skeptical at first. After some consideration, however, Hornrock had gladly accepted her transfer. Hermione had a feeling that the acceptance had something to do with her role in the defeat of Lord Voldemort, and perhaps a little influence on Harry's part.

Working with the famous Harry Potter had been strange at first. Hermione recalled their first mission together, where they were sent to capture a cult group of wizards who were trying to avenge their master, Lord Voldemort. This had become quite a standard practice for the Aurors after the Battle of Hogwarts. The Ministry had to take on a multitude of Aurors to keep up with the amount of work from former Death Eaters who had come out of hiding since then.

In all the years she had known him, Hermione had never seen Harry acting so professional. It was strange to see the boy she often found herself lecturing on rule breaking in her youth strictly adhering to Ministry guidelines. Of course, there was still the odd time where Harry had to improvise, but Hornrock tended to look the other way on these occasions, usually because Harry had turned out to be right. Outside of work, though, Harry was still the same hot headed, risk taking boy he always was, and Hermione loved him for that.

Harry seemed to be the only person besides her that really believed Ron was still alive as much as she had, perhaps partly due to the locket, and partly due to the fact that Harry, like Hermione, couldn't bare to admit to themselves that he may be gone for good. Since she had received the locket, Ron's family had also regained a small bit of hope.

"Time to go, Hermione." Harry's voice brought Hermione back to the present, back to the breakfast table in the Potter household.

"Is it eight thirty already?" Hermione checked her watch. How long had she been daydreaming for? Wand in hand, she rose from the breakfast table, leaving her untouched food sitting on the plate. Ginny looked down at the plate with a frown, then gazed at Hermione with a worried expression on her face.

After pulling on her cloak and waiting for Harry to do the same, Hermione hugged Ginny goodbye.

"Come back after work," Ginny smiled kindly. "We're having guests over."

Hermione nodded, then dissaparated with a crack. She appeared in a bleak, dark, stoney room, with no windows and no visible doors. The room was empty apart from a pedestal that sat in the middle of the floor.

"Lumos" Hermione muttered, and the tip of her wand lit up like a torch in advance. Harry appeared with a crack right beside her two seconds later.

There was only one place that people could apparate into the Ministry, and only Aurors were allowed to do so. Following Harry's lead, Hermione placed her wand on the pedestal. The voice of Reisin Hornrock echoed in the room. "State your names."

"Hermione Granger, sir." Hermione said robotically. It had become almost automatic. They went through these security checks each day. Still, Hermione thought, the Ministry could never be too careful. Hornrock had been right to demand heightened security after Ron's disappearance.

"Harry Potter" Harry responded in the same monotone voice as Hermione's.

"Very well." Hornrock's voice spoke again. The chamber started to rumble as the wall behind the pedestal lifted, revealing a long, pale grey corridor behind it. After lifting their wands again, Harry and Hermione followed on through the passage.

The passage had many doors, colour coded for each department. Their office was behind a pale red door near the end of the corridor. As they entered the small, cramped office that Harry and Hermione shared with a few of the other Aurors, Hornrock's scowling face greeted them upon entry.

Hornrock was a strange looking man, Hermione had been rather taken aback when she had first met him. It had been her first day as an Auror, when she met the lanky man with long grey hair and rugged facial features. His square shaped jaw was covered by roughly two inches of grey hair, and a shorter grey moustache lay on top of his lip.

"Potter, Granger." Hornrock nodded. "Meeting in my office, right now. No time to lose." Hornrock looked serious. Following the footsteps of their boss, Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances at one another.

The door to Reisin Hornrock's office lay a few doors from Hermione and Harry's. Inserting his wand into a small, circle shaped opening in the door, Hornrock's office opened with a click. "Come in." Hornrock said gruffly, as he held the door open

Upon Hornrock's orders, Hermione and Harry walked in to the square shaped office. There were more than thirty file cabinets as well as a multitude of mysterious looking safes in their boss's office. Hermione had been impressed that Harry had never once asked about any of the contents. Outside of work, Harry usually let curiosity get the best of him.

"The Hat of Anala is missing." Hornrock said grimly. This meant nothing to Hermione, but one look at Harry's shocked and panicked expression told her that this wasn't a pleasant announcement, to say the least.

"How?" The sound had barely escaped Harry's mouth. He seemed to be temporarily paralysed.

"My suspicions say The Cult of Angau." He replied shortly. "We've been watching them closely, and they've showed great interest in the hat."

This time Hermione froze. If the Cult of Angau were involved, this was some heavy duty work. Hermione remembered the last time she and Harry had dealt with them. It had taken twelve Aurors to raid their headquarters, which had turned out to be their leader Rex Bowstern's Manor, which was located near an abandoned sewage plant. Although the plant had been empty for many years, the stale smell of sewage still wafted through the area.

Hermione remembered the smell vividly. Last time they had entered the dreary looking manor, they had barely made it out alive. They had managed to rescue a handful of muggle borns from the dungeons that lay below the grounds of the manor. Hermione remembered, with a jolt of nausea, the numerous dead bodies of their colleagues and unknown witches and wizards, that Hermione had supposed were also muggle born.

Whatever this mission was, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Sir?" Hermione interjected, before Hornrock had the chance to go on. "What is the Hat of Anala?"

"The Hat of Anala is a hat that was made from the skin of a unicorn, Granger." Hornrock stated. Hermione shuddered, dread filling her up on the inside. "Dark magic. No one knows where it came from, or who made it, but in the wrong hands it is a very dangerous tool."

"What does it do?" Hermione asked, although part of her didn't want to know the answer. If a unicorn had been slain to make the hat, and she didn't doubt that this was the case, this hat was bad news.

"Enhances the power of the wearer." Harry replied instead. "Imagine limitless power. Imagine being able to cast an unforgivable curse on anyone, from anywhere in the entire world. Research has shown that it has been around for at least a century, but the Ministry only got wind of it when Ron and I..."

Harry trailed off. An awkward silence followed. If Hornrock had noticed the pain in both his employee's eyes, he didn't let on.

"Potter, Granger - only you two can know about this. This mission is top secret," Hornrock continued the conversation sternly, throwing an almost accusing look at them both.

"Yes sir." Harry and Hermione replied in unison.

There was a pause, then a look of realisation became visible on Harry's face. "Didn't the Cult of Angau flee their headquarters?" the Auror asked his boss.

Hornrock nodded grimly. Hermione's heart sank.

"How much time do we have to find their new Headquarters?" Hermione asked apprehensively.

"Never miss a trick, do you Granger?" Hornrock said in an odd voice that sounded almost like pride. "The hat can only be worn if you've taken the Anala potion. As far as our research has shown us, this potion is complicated and can take around two months to brew." There was a pause while Hermione and Harry tried to digest the information, then Hornrock continued. "I don't want to take the risk. I think a month would be best, at the latest."

As the lanky wizard handed them the book, he nodded his head towards the door. "Well I suggest you get researching. You need to be prepared for any hex or spell that may be thrown at you. You need to be prepared to face the protection around the new headquarters, keeping in mind you still need to find it. This won't be a light workload. "

With these final words, Hornrock led Harry and Hermione out of his office with grim, worried expressions on their faces.

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**Thanks again for reading! Please, please review on this chapter. I want to know if I'm on the right track here. **


	3. The Ministry Library

**Have I been sitting writing fanfiction instead of doing the college work I should be working on? Yes, I think I have! This chapter might be a little confusing, but all will make sense in due time.**

**I know my chapters are a little short, but that's how I roll. I try to make them as long as I can, but I'm also a sucker for cliffhangers.**

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It was becoming dark outside, and Hermione and Harry still weren't making progress.

"Oh, this is useless!" Hermione wailed, tossing 'Unicorn Recipes' on top of the pile on the table. She had been through the book twice to make sure that she wasn't missing anything. She found nothing relating to a hat, or indeed Unicorn skin.

They had been in the Ministry's huge, dimly lit library for hours, and hadn't found anything on the Cult of Angau at all. The truth was, they didn't even know where to start. It was a scene reminiscent of their time at Hogwarts. Of course, there was something missing.

Harry was looking through a pile of maps, his scarred forehead creased in frustration. At the sound of her voice, he had glanced up, then returned his gaze to the map he was reading, pushing one in front of Hermione.

Hermione surveyed the map in front of her. Her attention drew immediately to a small muggle town just south of where Bowstern's Manor had been. There was something about the layout that bothered her. In the centre of the town there was a church whose name sounded oddly familiar to her.

"Dirkstone Abbey.." Hermione read aloud. Searching her brain, she knew there was something that was bothering her. She just couldn't figure out what or why.

"Have you found something?" Harry asked, hopeful.

"Probably not." Hermione said with a sigh. "It's just... Dirkstone Abbey. It sounds familiar."

The clock on the wall behind Harry was ticking away. Harry glanced around at it and frowned. "Eleven o'clock. Ginny's going to kill me."

"Maybe just hex." Hermione attempted a half hearted joke, then looked serious again. "I think we should call it a night, Harry.

Harry nodded in agreement, gathering up the maps he had in his hands. Hermione grabbed the map she had been studying, vowing to herself to do a little more research on Dirkstone Abbey when she returned tomorrow. They couldn't just crash a Muggle church without a good reason, she reminded herself. A hunch just wasn't good enough.

They were walking back through the Ministry corridor leading to the chamber where they had apparated from earlier that day, when a surge of realisation hit Hermione. She froze, and looked at Harry."Didn't Ginny say you had guests over?"

Harry nodded grimly. "Not only will I be hexed by Ginny, Mrs Weasley will be there to help her as well."

Hermione suppressed a snicker. Ginny was usually understanding about Harry's late nights - still, the vision of the two redheads chasing Harry around the small two bedroom apartment amused her.

Hornrock was waiting for them in front of the chamber. His face had a deadpan expression that Hermione couldn't quite read. Had he been waiting on them? How long had he been waiting for?

"Granger, Potter." Hornrock nodded curtly as Hermione and Harry reached him. "How did you get on?"

Reading the bleak expressions on their faces, Hornrock's shoulders fell slightly with a sigh.

"Sorry sir." Hermione replied, bowing her head slightly. "There's not much to go on, we're trying our hardest."

Hornrock nodded, glancing around the corridor to check it was empty. Hermione noticed that he was holding a rather sinister looking book entitled 'The Price of Blood'and shuddered. Whatever Hornrock had to say to them, Hermione hoped that it wasn't to do with the contents of the book. Of course, her hope was proven to be short lived.

"I've been doing a bit of research of my own." Offered Hornrock, holding out the eerie book in front of Hermione. "Page 97."

Hermione opened up the book, and both she and Harry peered almost hesitantly at the page. A picture of a glorious looking pointed white wizard's hat lay on page 97, with a small paragraph below it.

_Very little has been documented about the Ancient Hat of the Anara tribe since its disappearance from the Tomb of Dagda in the early 1900's. The hat allows the wearer unspeakable powers, and can only be activated by the drinker of the potion of Anala by the light of a full moon_.

This was it. They knew exactly when the potion was going to be used. Horror struck, Hermione looked up from the book and looked at her boss.

"The full moon falls on the second week of March" Hornrock told them, surveying the expressions on their faces. "Now, not to worry. Now we know exactly how much time we have. Still, I suggest getting this whole business over with sooner rather than later."

Hermione and Harry both nodded, but Hermione had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and judging by Harry's pained expression, she wasn't the only one. At least when they had nothing to go on, the reality of the hat being used had seemed distant. This had just brought everything crashing forward. They had to deal with this as soon as they could.

Saying their goodbyes to Hornrock, Hermione and Harry once again entered the chamber to make their journeys home.

"Well, we can carry on our research in the morning." Hermione said to Harry, squeezing his shoulder gently. "Give my love to Ginny."

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" Harry asked, perplexed. Hermione paused to look at her friend's face and frowned.

"Harry, it's nearly twelve o'clock at night. I don't think Ginny had counted on us working for so long when she invited me back."

Harry chuckled, pulling Hermione to his side. "Knowing my mother in law, she'll be sitting up waiting for us. Come on!" He insisted. Without another word, Harry disappeared with a crack, pulling Hermione with him.

They appeared once again in Harry and Ginny's dark hallway. It was pitch black save for a light where the living room was. Hermione strained her ears a little. She could hear two female voices coming from the living room. They were still awake after all.

"Harry? Is that you?" Came Ginny's worried tone from the living room. Shrugging of his cloak, Harry motioned for Hermione to follow him.

"Oh hello, Harry dear!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed with a smile, scooping her son in law into a tight embrace. Spotting Hermione, her smile widened. The plump woman pulled Hermione into the same embrace.

"Hermione! I wasn't expecting to see you here, dear. Ginny mentioned you had been invited back, but we weren't sure if it would be to late for you."

Hermione could smell the firewhiskey on Mrs Weasleys breath. This had been quite common since Ron's disappearance. The admirable woman had held it together well through Fred's death, she and Arthur being the pillars that held the family up. She hadn't counted on losing a second child so suddenly, and Ron's disappearance had taken it's toll on her. Hermione took in the appearance of the small woman in front of her. Had she been eating properly? She knew that Molly Weasley was usually to busy making sure everyone else was okay, that she sometimes neglected her on well being. The loss of her children had weakened her.

She remembered sadly the first time she had ever saw Molly Weasley fall apart. Usually a strong confident woman, life had dealt her a poor hand. It was about a month after Ron had gone that she broke down into heart wrenching sobs, with only Ginny and Hermione in the room. She had confessed that she felt she had failed as a mother, and that Fred and Ron would still be there if she had been paying more attention to them. It took a good few hours for Hermione and Ginny to calm the poor woman down, explaining that she was in no way to blame for the loss of her sons.

Feeling a surge of empathy for Ron's mother, Hermione threw her arms around her.

Hermione, Harry and Mrs Weasley sat up late into the night discussing recent developments in their lives. Harry and Hermione were never allowed to discuss work, of course, but they listened intently as Mrs Weasley told them about how Bill and Fleur were looking for a new cottage, and how Fred, the son of Angelina and George, had started to talk, although Mrs Weasley refused to utter his first word. Apparently it had been something rude. Hermione suppressed a laugh as she was telling the story. How could it be anything else? "I just hope my future grandchild doesn't pick up this behaviour!" She shot a sharp glance at Ginny's stomach.

Stifling a yawn, Hermione rose from the dining table that they had all placed themselves at. It was two o'clock already, and she and Harry had a lot of work to get on with the next day. Mrs Weasley stumbled up from her chair, squeezing Hermione again. "It was great to see you dear!" the woman grinned.

"You too, Mrs Weasley." Hermione forced a polite smile. She could barely hold her eyes open, never mind apparate out of the house. Ginny seemed to notice this, and rose from the table as well.

"I'll walk you to your room." Ginny smiled kindly. "No, you're far to tired to go home." She shot down the protest that was forming on Hermione's lips. "Come on."

Hermione followed wordlessly, too tired to argue. After saying her good nights, she was left in the darkness to her thoughts. Her head swimming with the events of the day, Hermione felt her eyes get heavier.

She was looking at small, dark room that was completely empty, apart from the figures of two men. The first one had his wand in his hand, holding it at the other. The second man was standing against the wall, his wrists and ankles held in cuffs. He seemed weak, yet still struggled to get free. Neither of the two seemed to notice Hermione's presence.

The two men came more into focus, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat. The pale freckled face, red haired man looked completely different to when Hermione had last saw him, but she could never mistake him for anyone else. The rags he was wearing barely covered his flesh. The top half sat from the top of his chest to just above his stomach, the rips showing his clearly weakened muscles. Red stubble covered his chin and upper lip.

'Now, let's try this again." the other man began, walking towards his target. He was a cloaked, hooded figure that Hermione could not make out. "Where is the horn?"

"No matter how many times you ask, I won't help you." the prisoner said weakly.

Hermione's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach as the hooded figure screeched "CRUCIO!", causing the captive man to let out a painful sounding yelp and to shake violently. Hermione let out a whimper, but neither man seemed to notice. She couldn't find her voice or feet. Somehow she knew she wasn't really there with them.

"No matter, Weasley." The hooded figure drawled, eyeing the man in front of him. "I'll get you soon enough. Although, perhaps one more for good measure."

The captured man, panting with pain, put on a brave face as the hooded man raised his wand once more. "CRUC-"

"-NO!" Screamed Hermione, shooting up from the bed as the covers dropped from her. Hermione panted. She had grasping tightly onto the locket. "Ron..." she breathed weakly, tears streaming from her eyes.

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**Enjoying this story so far? Why don't you throw me a review? Thanks to everyone who has done so so far. It's what makes it all worth it! Although more reviews would be appreciated :) **

**The last few chapters have been posted pretty quickly one after the other, but I'm not sure how quickly I can get the next one out to you guys. I've a busy week ahead of me, and will be working on the chapter in my spare time. I've already written half of it, but it needs much revision and of course, a second half. I can promise you I will have it uploaded by the end of the week, though!**


	4. Hermione's Rude Awakening

**I'm running ahead of schedule folks, which means I was able to get yet another chapter finished for you today. Thanks the response I've received so far. Keep the reviews coming, they really do motivate me to write faster. And also, it ****really boosts my self esteem as an author. This is another short chapter, but I really couldn't find another logical point to end it, and ending it where I did just seemed right. Let the adventure commence!**

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As she was gasping for breath, Hermione choked out quiet sobs. Wiping her eyes and willing herself to get a grip, she steadied her breathing.

BANG. Hermione shot upright as her door slammed open, and saw a blurry vision of a wand being pointed directly at her. Frozen in fear, she choked out another sob.

The figure stood frozen, as another figure came running straight into the room, almost knocking the other to the side. Ginny. Hermione steadied her breathing. Had she not been in such a frenzied state, she would have found the sight of Harry standing at the door dumbstruck quite amusing.

As Hermione told her two friends about the dream, and how she had been in the room but had somehow been disconnected. She described in remarkable detail the dark, dingy stone cellar she had been looking upon, but when it came to describing the scene that had taken place, she only managed to choke out "_Ron_" as she launched into heart wrenching sobs. She felt a strong arm immediately around her shoulder, and a soft female hand stroking her arm softly.

"Shh..." Ginny crooned. "It's okay, you don't need to tell us about it if you don't want to." However, Ginny's face looked terrified.

Hermione looked at Harry. His face had flushed, and he was looking at Hermione like he had seen a ghost. He wasn't looking at her face, though. His eyes were directly on the locket around her neck.

"Hermione.." Harry hesitated, and Hermione could tell that he was facing an internal struggle. She knew why, too. Harry had been subject to these types of dreams before, and they had turned out to be visions from the point of view of Lord Voldemort.

Hermione shook her head, trying to process everything. It was clearly a dungeon of some sort. The toturer had been hard to make out. _Ron's_ torturer, Hermione thought furiously. How long had he been suffering like that? While Hermione was sitting at home doing nothing. He looked worn out, barely alive. His skin had lost any colour it had previously, and his freckles had faded. The bags under his eyes were huge. Hermione covered her face with her hands as tears continued to escape.

They had all sat in the room in silence for a while. Harry had the look of someone who was trying to make a decision. Hermione was struggling herself. She was the one who had stormed out of Mrs Trelawney's Divination classroom, claiming that she didn't believe in such nonsense. Yet, here she was, ready to gather her wand and her cloak and march into the night looking for a dungeon she had no proof existed and had no clue the whereabouts of. Was she going mad?

"I'm sorry." Harry seemed to have worked up the nerve to say the thing that was on everyone's minds.'I really am so sorry, but we _need_ to know." He finished quickly with the manner of someone pulling off a plaster.

"H... He..." Hermione attempted to continue her story, but to her surprise Harry held his hand up to her with a soft expression on his face.

"No" He sighed. "You're far too worked up."

Ginny shot him a glare.

"_No_, not that I blame you." He was speaking quickly again. "What I mean is, well..."

To the surprise of the two women, he stopped talking and instead stood up, exiting the room. Hermione and Ginny exchanged dumbfounded looks as they heard him cluttering about in the next room, their bedroom, then the unmistakable clicking of a safe . Then Ginny's face changed to a look of understanding, as she let out a soft "oh..." As if on que, Harry re-entred with what looked like a shallow stone basin in his hands. Finally, she understood. The Pensieve. The Pensieve had been left to Harry after the death of Serverus Snape.

They had much depended on the use of the Pensieve throughout their high school years. Hermione remembered grimly the recount that they had witnessed through the Pensieve just after the death of their former Potions master.

The strange, silvery glass like substance shone in the darkness of the room. She looked at Harry's apprehensive expression, then she nodded. Harry instantly looked a little more at ease.

"It'll help with the shock, too." Harry said, placing it on the bedside table that sat at the side of the bed Hermione and Ginny were sitting on.

Hermione pulled her wand out from underneath her pillow, instantly placing it to her head and pulling out a strange, silvery liquid, transferring it to the basin. Already, she felt a little lighter. Of course, she still pressed her palms to her ears and shut her eyes tight as Harry and Ginny peered into the silvery substance.

Within minutes, a shriek of anguish penetrated the block she had made with her hands. She opened her eyes to see Ginny sobbing, and Harry holding her tightly, rage and fear both flashing in his eyes at the same time.

Hermione felt a stab of guilt. Before she could stammer an apology, however, Ginny launched herself at Hermione, throwing her arms around her with choking sobs. Harry looked at the pair solemnly.

There was an even longer silence this time, before either of the trio made any distinct movement. Harry, yet again, was the one to break the silence.

"I need to leave." Harry said decidedly, looking into his wife's eyes.

Ginny just nodded shakily, but gripped onto Harry's hand with intensity. She seemed to have temporarily lost the will to speak. "I-... I..."

"Can't come." Harry interrupted without hesitation. "I don't want to put _any_ of you in danger." His eyes were on the bump on Ginny's stomach, but somehow Hermione knew the voice was directed at all three of them.

"No!" Hermione yelled shrilly at Harry, jumping up from the spot she was sitting. "No you don't, Harry Potter! You don't get to stand there, and t- tell me that I h- have to stand by while Ron, my *fiancee*, suffers!"

"He's my _brother_..." Ginny said weakly, although Hermione knew that logic had already kicked in as far as what use Ginny would be in her position, never mind the risk.

"And this," Harry said, placing his palms on Ginny's round stomach as Ginny closed her eyes in resignation, "is our child. I can't risk _either_ of you."

Hermione stepped next to Harry, determination on her face. "If you try to stop me, so help me Harry, I will hex you into the next millennium." Hermione threatened the protest that Harry was clearly about to make. "Where are we going?" She asked, her eyes narrowed, almost piercing through Harry's.

Harry faltered. Clearly, he hadn't even thought of a plan. He, as Hermione had been, was ready to storm the streets in the middle of a muggle village and set off to an unknown location. Logic had kicked in since then for Hermione, though, and she placed her hand on Harry's frozen shoulder. "We need to sit down. We need a plan, Harry." She said in an almost begging manner.

Harry looked as though he was struggling again, but he stood still, processing the information. "Give me the horn." He repeated the words of Ron's attacker, sending rage down Hermione's spine. "What horn?"

Wrinkling her forehead, Hermione let out a frustrated groan. She just wanted to apparate to Ron's side, to free him from the horrible ordeal, and to hold him in her arms and make all the physical and emotional pain go away. Instead, she settled for punching the wall, sending out a shockwave of pain through her nerves as it connected with a loud _crunch_. Harry and Ginny hadn't even moved to stop her. She choked out a wail, collapsing back onto the bed.

"The Ministry archives." Ginny said simply. "We need to search for records of this horn."

Without hesitating, Hermione gathered her belongings. It was five o'clock in the morning, but she was no longer tired. The adrenaline was flowing through her, as she could see it was through Harry.

Ginny, however, had lain down on the bed weakly. Harry pulled the covers that Hermione had thrown to the side earlier over his wife and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, then on the covers where her stomach was.

"I love you." Ginny whispered, holding out her hand and grasping Harry's with it.

"I love you too." Harry said seriously, looking into Ginny's eyes. He then fixed his gaze on Hermione. "Let's go back to the Ministry."

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**Like last time, I can't promise a date when the next chapter will be posted. I have a lot of course work to do right now, and I will be working on this in my spare time. It could be tomorrow, or it could be the end of the week. I've worked too hard on this to rush through it. So, review? :)**


	5. Too Many Horns

**So I'm yet again ahead of schedule, which of course means a brand new chappy for you guys! Apologies if I've left any mistakes in, every chapter apart from the very first one has been typed and submitted from my phone, making it kinda difficult to proof read. I do try my best, though. If you spot any mistakes don't hesitate to tell me, and I will be happy to go back and change them.**

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By the time Harry and Hermione had reached the archive room in the Ministry, it had reached six o'clock in the morning. Since Hornrock wasn't there to let them in through the apparition chamber, they'd had to apparate to Diagon Alley and go in through the telephone booth.

"Two hours and we'd have been in here anyway." Harry said, probably more for the purpose of conversation than anything else. They had both barely spoken since leaving Harry's house, both of their thoughts elsewhere.

The Archives were stacked on long, high oak shelves that stood across the brilliantly lit room diagonally. The room itself was remarkable. The red patterned wall complimented the dark wooden flooring beautifully.

"Where do we start?" Harry asked, staring down one of the long rows.

"Well, there must be an index somewhere." Hermione said, pondering. "Let's see..." she muttered as she turned to look for some sort of reference desk.

"What's this?" She heard Harry's voice behind her.

"Honestly, Harry, we don't have time t-" Hermione whirred around to face Harry, then stopped speaking as her eyes fell on what Harry was asking about. A small indent on the wall, that appeared to glow a dim red. A small sign above read "Enquiries here."

"What does that mean? Are we supposed to talk to it?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"No," Hermione said, pointing her wand to the alcove. "There's a spell. The library in Hogsmeade had the same system. _Appendium_!"

Upon the word, a glowing stream of light blue released itself from Hermione's wand, but instead of going to the thing she was pointing at, it flew into the air gracefully. It paused for a few seconds before separating into four more pieces of the same glowing stream, all going towards different targets throughout the archives. Hermione gently brought down her wand, placing it in the alcove. To Harry's astonishment, the blue light stayed where it was as Hermione let go of her wand.

"I've sent it to look for any records of magical horns. There only seems to be four of them" She said, counting the streams. "I'll follow these two." She pointed to the two that lay behind a couple of rows from each other.

Harry nodded, and left to follow the other two, one of which was in the middle of the room, and the second of which was just a little further back, in the same row.

The first blue stream led Hermione to a file entitled "Horn of Herakles / Horn of Plenty, and the second to a box that was full of files, simply entitled "Red Horn." Willing to try anything, she brought both the box and the single file back to the front of the room with her, where Harry stood waiting.

"I'm not sure if we'll be able to place anything together with this." Hermione said loudly so that Harry could hear her as she approached him. "But it's all we have to go by right now."

Harry held up the two items he had collected; a book entitled "Enchanted Valve Horns" and a file entitled "Documented Uses of Unicorn Horns. "

A little later on, Hermione and Harry were once again sitting in the Ministry library, where Hermione had also found a book entitled "Magic Mythology: Cursed Objects". Sifting through the documents in Red Horn, she'd immediately decided they were no use. It was Siouan folklore. She pulled the "Horn of Herakles / Horn of Plenty" file in front of her.

She heard a loud sigh next to her, Harry had put both of his findings from the archives to the side. Clearly he was getting nowhere, and the Horn of Plenty didn't return any results either. It was like they had taken one step closer to Ron, and two steps further away.

"Are we going mad?" Hermione asked Harry in a small voice. He looked over to her. "I mean, here we are, searching through any records the ministry have of horns, anything at all, but all we have to go by is a dream that we have no proof means anything."

There was a slight silence, then Harry shook his head. "If there's a chance that this leads us to Ron - any chance at all, we need to take it." He sighed. "I just hope we're not too late."

Hermione stared intensely at Harry, frozen. Her heart had sunk to the pit of her stomach again. What if they were too late? If what she had seen was to be believed, Ron was undergoing some painful torture, yet they were sitting sifting through a bunch of books and files. She just wanted to go straight to him. To apparate to his side. Of course, that was impossible. She would be splinched if she even attempted it.

By the time it reached five o'clock, they had pretty much exhausted any information they had, and they weren't any further forward. Harry groaned in frustration, throwing his arms on the table and his head against them.

"This isn't working!" Hermione said grimly, turning to Harry. "We need to try something else."

"Like what?" Asked Harry, raising his head from his arms.

"I don't know, just... anything. I just w-want t-to..." Hermione burst into tears again, covering her face with her hands. "W-we need to f-find him" she finished, sniffling. She shakily removed the locket from her neck, gazing at it with intensity.

Harry's frustrated gaze softened, as he reached out for Hermione's hand, taking the locket from her and placing it on the table next to them so he could grasp onto her hand to comfort her. "We will. We'll find him" Harry said to her, determined. "Trust me, I want to find him as much as you do. It's hard to sit here while we know he's out there, but we need to find some sort of lead."

Feeling a little lighter, probably due to the fact that she wasn't alone in the way she was feeling, Hermione let out a small tearful snicker. "When did you get so clever?"

When they were at Hogwarts, Harry had always marched into things head first without giving it a second thought, yet here he was basically telling Hermione not to do anything rash.

"Well, I _am_ the smart one!" Harry grinned. Hermione giggled, nudging Harry in the ribs with her elbow.

A stab of guilt hit her. Ron was out there suffering, and here she was laughing and joking instead of rescuing him. She shook her head and stood up. "I'm going to go to the Auror offices, there may be some sort of clue in the archives there." The archives in their offices were smaller, but there was access to more restricted information there. Perhaps she would have more luck in there.

"I'll be here." Harry replied, his eyes now fixed on the maps again.

Without another word, Hermione lifted her wand, and exited the massive library into the corridors. The Auror offices were on the second level, and she was presently on the sixth. Many official looking witches and wizards strode past her in their cloaks and robes, either on their way home or still hard at work. No one seemed to notice the pained expression on Hermione's face as she stood in the lift to the second level, nor as she skulked down the corridors that led to her office, and the Auror archives.

Before she could get to the archives, however, she spotted a small, young witch in the corner of her eye. The girl had short blonde hair, and was dressed in bright green robes today. Alyssa Smith was a girl who had recently been taken on as an Auror-in-training. As friendly as she was, Hermione sighed as she spotted her walking towards her, waving frantically like she was an old friend that hadn't seen Hermione in years.

"I haven't seen you all day!" Alyssa shrieked at Hermione, stumbling to a halt in front of her and almost knocking her down.

Swiftly regaining her balance, Hermione politely and weakly returned her smile. "Oh, hi Alyssa, listen, I-"

"I've been training with Flynn Carmyle all day." the young witch rolled her eyes with the air of someone who had endured the most boring lesson on the planet. "Didn't even get to do any field work, just been searching through musty old books. "

Hermione nodded along politely. Usually the thought of someone complaining about books and their usefulness would face a long, cold lecture from her, but she had much more important and urgent matters on her mind.

"Ah, Granger." Hermione frowned as the conversation had been interrupted by her boss. Hornback strode to the area the two witches stood quickly, clearly with a purpose. This was the last thing she needed. However, she was a little grateful when the next thing Hornrock said was "can I speak to you in private?" motioning towards the offices with his head.

Saying goodbye to Alyssa, Hermione followed her boss through the set of doors that took her to the Auror offices. As the doors closed behind her, she caught one last glimpse of Alyssa, who was already running towards her next victim with the intent on telling them more pointless stories Hermione had no doubt.

The archives lay at the end of the offices, next to the apparition chamber. Hornrock, however, was marching towards his office.

"Erm, sir..." Hermione hesitated as she followed her boss down the corridor.

"Wait here, Granger." Hornrock interrupted her. "I'll be a few minutes, I just need to dismiss a few colleagues from my office. I have something to show you. I believe it'll help you and Potter with your case."

Hermione froze, she had forgotten all about the case. Of course, she didn't dare say this to Hornrock. He didn't seem to notice the guilt etched on her face, though.

"I just need to go grab something quickly from my office, sir" Hermione told a small white lie. Hornrock would have gone mental if he had found out that she and Harry had spent the entire day concentrating on something other than work.

Hornrock nodded gruffly, then turned into his office. "Sorry for the wait, Mr Mcready" she heard him say as the office door shut behind him.

Hermione strode quickly towards the archives. If she was quick enough, she would be in and out in time before Hornrock came back to fetch her.

The Auror archives lay next to where the apparition chamber was. As she quickly glanced around the small room that she had hastened into, she searched for the letter "H" in the letters that sat on the sides of the small, metal shelves. Finally spotting it, she sped towards it, searching the contents.

"Hands of Velor, He Who Must Not Be Named, Horcruxes..." she shuddered at the Horcrux file, before grabbing the one next to it entitled "Horns", which had three different binders with the titles "The Five Black Horns, Roman Cornucopia and the Magic Drinking Horn of King Arthur". Hermione pulled all three quickly, concealing them in the large pocket underneath her robes.

To Hermione's surprise, Hornrock was waiting in the corridor next to the archives for her. Her heart sunk. If there was one thing Hermione couldn't stand, it was being in trouble. Before she could open her mouth to apologise profusely, Hornrock began to speak.

"Where's the locket, Granger?"

Hermione's apologetic gaze changed to a look of utter bewilderment.

"L- locket, sir?" There was something strange about the way Hornrock's eyes were piercing Hermione's.

"The locket, girl. The one you usually have around your neck." Hornrock said impatiently.

"I- it's... Harry has it, sir. Is everythi-"

Hermione froze. Hornrock's wand was pointed right at her. "Don't lie to me, Granger." he growled menacingly.

Before she got a chance to process what was going on, a strong pair of arms grabbed her from behind, pulling into the apparation chamber as she was pulled into darkness with a loud _crack_.

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**I'm absolutely thrilled with the response I've received so far for this fic, please keep your reviews coming! They're what makes it worth it to battle with autocorrect every time I try to update! Next chapter should be uploaded by Sunday!**


	6. Back to the Forest

**I love you guys. I love you so much, in fact, that I bring to you another ahead of schedule chapter! This will probably be the final update til next week, but enjoy! **

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It was dark. Hermione felt herself drowsily fall into the familiar arms that had pulled her from the Ministry, and she felt an intense wave of relief. This soon evaporated, however, as a familiar dark dingy room materialised in front her, yet she was again unattached from the scene.

Ron was alone this time. She wanted so much to run out and grab onto him, to stroke his hair, to be able to touch him, feel him, _kiss_ him. Most of all, she wanted to take him away from that horrible place. Yet she couldn't move, couldn't speak. All she could do was watch helplessly as the shell of the man she loved stood before her, shackled and barely conscious, clearly in agony.

The moon shone unceremoniously through the small barred window that sat to Ron's left. She wasn't sure if it was the position of the moon, or the angle of which she had witnessed the scene last time, but she hadn't noticed a window before. If only she could get a glimpse of the outside, so that she could pinpoint the whereabouts of Ron's horrendous prison.

She could see every inch of him this time, not just a strained vision. The moon highlighted his entire frame as the rags he wore barely covered his flesh. Still tall, still built, yet his muscles were definitely smaller, and his skin a bit looser. His eyes were darker and heavier than last time, and his hair a little longer and more tugged.

Hermione felt every hair on her body stand on end as the stone door in front of Ron opened with a _click_, and Hermione saw instant awareness etched across Ron's broken features. He squeezed his eyes tight as if in pain, before he opened them to watch as the same hooded figure from last time entered, wand at the ready.

Hermione's heart halted for a few seconds. The figure was much, much clearer this time. The voice that spoke was different from last time, too.

"Looks like your little girlfriend has managed to escape this time, Weasley." Hornrock's voice growled from the cloak.

Ron suddenly looked more alert than he had done either time that Hermione had seen him. His eyes immediately darted towards Hornrock, as he chocked out "D-don't you t-touch her."

Hornrock still had his wand held towards Ron, walking slowly closer to him. "Oh, but don't you want to see her? The shackles on the wall to your right look rather lonely, don't they?"

"_NO_!" Ron bellowed, clearly with all the strength he could muster, weakly pulling on the shackles that held him. "H-hurt her, and it'll be the last thing you do." He spoke with venom this time, his eyes piercing Hornrock's.

Hornrock let out a ghastly laugh before he took one step closer to Ron. "Trust me, Weasley, when we get her - and we will, she will suffer for being... _uncooperative_." Ron flinched again as though in agony. "Maybe I'll ask our master if I can keep her." An evil, filthy, disgusting grin appeared on Hornrock's face, and Hermione felt fear prickle the back of her neck.

This seemed to be to much for Ron, as he snarled loudly, trying to force his entire body out of the cuffs that held him.

"Your strength is admirable, boy." He was right in front of Ron now, his wand rested on Ron's chest menacingly. "You'd better hope your girl has just as much. My master is angry, Weasley." He paused, let out a small, sinister chuckle then said "No, _livid_. Master is _livid_. He hadn't planned on her getting away."

Ron just stared at him icily, almost as though he was trying to suck the life out of him with his eyes.

"No matter. Are you ready to tell me where that horn is yet?"

Ron shook his head, clenching is eyes clearly preparing for the pain he was about to endure. Hermione had been relieved for a second before she saw Hornrock take one step closer, so that his face was almost touching Ron's, and his wand dug painfully on his almost bared chest.

"What about the locket?" Hornrock asked.

By the panic struck expression on Ron's face, he hadn't been expecting this. His face quickly straightened, but it was too late. Hornrock had clearly noticed the recognition etched on Ron's face, as Hornrock's lips slowly curved into an accomplished grin.

"L-locket?" Ron asked, shakily, though Hermione could tell he was trying to keep his voice steady. Trying not to give anything away.

Hornrock took a step back, holding his wand towards Ron. "_CRUCIO_!"

Ron groaned weakly with intense displeasure, his face screwed as though trying to fight away the pain. He writhed and twisted as the spell worked his way throughout his body, clearly causing him a vast amount of agonising pain.

"You know, Weasley, I could stand here all day and be the cause of your pain, you know how much pleasure it gives me. I, however, have a Mudblood to capture."

With each passing moment, she could see Ron struggling with himself. She wanted to shout at him, to tell him not to give in, not for her... But she couldn't. She had no presence in the room. She could feel her body, but couldn't see herself. It was a strange sensation.

Things started to get lighter as Ron faded from her. She attempted to clutch for him as a bright sky materialised in front of her. Dizzy and disorientated, she shot up gasping for breath. Then she was frozen in fear as she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hermione." She sighed in relief as the familiar voice had said her name.

"Oh, _Harry_!" She exclaimed tearfully, shakily scooping her arms around his neck and pulling him in to a comforting hug - more for her sake than his.

He squeezed her back before letting go and gazing at her intensely. "Hermione," he repeated, "did you see him again?"

Harry's fear was confirmed as Hermione squeaked out a sob, then, while staring at her feet, she proceeded to tell him of the horrendous scene she had witnessed. Harry listened intently until she was finished.

"Well, that rules out Polyjuice Potion, or the Imperius Curse." said Harry, absent mindedly tapping his wand on his forehead. Hermione gazed at Harry, trying to process the words. Trying to force a kick start to her brain.

"I didn't want to believe it was actually Hornrock that attacked you in the Ministry." Harry explained. "While you were out, I'd been trying to place together every scenario possible."

The memory, temporarily pushed away by the distraction of Ron, now flew to the front of her mind, and she looked directly at Harry. It was her turn to ask questions now.

"Wh- what happened?" Hermione stuttered weakly.

"After you had gone, the locket had started shaking, and I couldn't get it to stop. I came to find you to ask if it was normal." Harry explained, glancing at the locket that Hermione had just noticed was clutched in her hands. "Then I heard Hornrock, so I hid in the Apparition Chamber. I didn't want to be in trouble, and I was worried that he was going to ask about the case. Then I saw him holding his wand towards you, so I grabbed you and disapparated us... here." He motioned to the surrounding area, then realisation dawned on Hermione.

"We've been here before." She said.

"Yep." Harry replied simply.

Last time they were here, Ron had walked out on them during their Horcrux hunting. She had spent the entire time pining for him, drawing out their stay for as long as possible in the hope that he would somehow manage to find his way back. He did, of course, but in an entirely different location.

"So, what now?" She searched Harry's expression for some sort of plan - unsuccessfully. Her shoulders hunched. "We can't go back." she said quietly.

Harry nodded solemnly in agreement as a strange sense of de ja vous struck the pair of them. Last time they had been here they were on the run from the Ministry, missing Ron and worrying about their loved ones. This time didn't appear to be much different.

"I need to warn Ginny." Harry broke the silence.

"Are you a complete *idiot*?" Hermione snapped, enraged. "Harry, the last thing we can do is put Ginny in danger. Especially in her condition!"

"I _know_!" Harry snapped back, but seemed to manage to steady himself. "I know," he repeated, much calmer. "but she could be in danger too." He furrowed his brow. "She doesn't know _anything _about what happened with Hornrock. He might use that to his advantage."

Hermione groaned, holding her palms to her head. Everything was such a mess. They were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but their wands and a mysterious locket that they hadn't quite worked out yet, and again cut off from their families.

An idea appeared across Harry's face however, which both intrigued and frightened Hermione at the same time. Sometimes thinking was a dangerous activity for Harry.

"A Patronus. I'll send her my Patronus!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione, however, looked less than impressed.

"Have you forgotten about the trace?" Hermione asked, staring Harry down.

Harry faltered. The trace. They had agreed to the Ministry placing a trace on their wands while they were on duty. Of course Hornrock would have kept this activated.

Hermione nudged herself so that she was sitting next to Harry, linking her arm with his and leaning against him comfortingly. "Listen, Harry. Ginny's a smart girl. She'll suss out that something is wrong, and she'll hide out at her parent's house.

Hermione stared into the thicket of trees in front of them, with the attempt of coming up with some sort of plan. They had no resources, no magic, no food. Nothing. They needed wands that weren't traced.

Realisation struck Hermione. It was too dangerous to apparate to The Burrow, or to either of their apartments. The Ministry would have been searching or at least keeping tabs there. They wouldn't, however, suspect Shell Cottage. It had acted as a safe house for them before, why not again?

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**I promise there will be more action to come! It's building up to something, and I hope you find it as exciting as I have writing it. I'm already up to Chapter 10, but they're undergoing much revision. Editing is so difficult on my phone. Again, apologies for any mistakes!**


	7. Hermione Again

**So this chapter really is a short one. Sorry, folks. it just felt it was the logical point for the chapter to end. I will upload the next one really really soon. I've just been working on them in my spare time, which is limited, plus I do my own beta reading since I can only upload on my mobile right now. On the bright side, my autocorrect has now registered several Harry Potter related words, and that surely can only be a good thing!**

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"So, how do we get to Shell Cottage?" Hermione asked, frowning.

Harry looked at his wand. "They didn't follow us here. Can they track apparitions?"

"They could last time we were here." Hermione replied, searching the surroundings sharply with her eyes. "But you're right, if Hornrock could track us, he _would_ have followed us here."

The pair stood frozen to the spot, trying to figure out wether apparition was a feasible option, when Hermione gasped.

"An idea?" Harry asked, raising his head from staring at his wand. He watched as Hermione walked in circles, clearly trying to remember something important.

"Cornwall... Tinworth... It _might_ be possible." Hermione mumbled while pacing slowly, still trying to remember something important.

"Hermione." Said Harry, and she stopped pacing to look at him. "Are you going to tell me what you're mumbling about or are you just going to keep mumbling places near Shell Cottage at me?"

"A portkey!" Hermione replied with enthusiasm.

"A portkey." Harry repeated, raising his left eyebrow. Hermione could tell that this was more of a question than a statement.

"Well, it's complicated, really," Hermione began. "I've never technically cast the spell before, but I know the theory. If I can get it to connect to the Tinworth network..." she trailed off, furrowing her brows.

"Not to put a damper on the plan or anything," Harry said with a grim expression, "but we can't use our wands."

"No." Hermione said thoughtfully, searching her brain. "But there _must_ be a way. They haven't followed us yet."

"Probably haven't figured out that our wands are traced." Harry replied with an air of hostility. He was clearly thinking about the betrayal of the Ministry.

Hermione couldn't blame him. She felt the same way. It wasn't the first time that they had been on the run from the Ministry. Last time they had criminalised them. Would they do it again? Would people fall for it a second time? No doubt Rita Skeeter would have something to say on the matter. She had even gone so low as to attack Dumbledore immediately after his death. The very thought of it sickened her.

Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered something. Dumbledore. Dumbledore's Army.

She pulled out a round, fake golden coin from her cloak and stared at it, hear head whirring for ideas. She knew she was onto something, she just couldn't quite tie things together in her mind. The events of the day had obviously taken its toll on her, and her lack of sleep was catching up to her.

Harry mirrored her, staring at the small round coin he had just pulled out of his pocket with raised eyebrows. It was clear to Hermione that he had the same drowsy whirring in his head that she did.

"But how will they know where to find us?" Harry asked aloud, still staring at the coins.

Hermione felt her thoughts fall in to place as she stared at the numbers on the outside of the coin, then once again reached inside her cloak. Rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out a small blue book entitled "Frederick Forehorn's Maps of the UK" and a compass.

"You just carry that stuff around with you, do you?" Harry asked her, perplexed.

"Oh, honestly Harry, of _course_ I do." Hermione replied earnestly, rolling her eyes."_Everyone_ should have a map and compass handy at all times. Especially an Auror." She shot him a glare.

Harry's lips were curved upwards in an amused manner.

"What?" She snapped.

"Nothing." Harry replied quickly, straightening his face and fixing his gaze back on the coin."

"Tell me." Hermione fixed a cold, stern look at Harry's face. With everything that had taken place over the past twenty four hours or so, she didn't have the patience at that moment for Harry's childish sense of humour.

"It's just..." Harry faltered, then looked from his coin back to Hermione's face. "It's good to have you back, Hermione."

"Have you gone _mad_?" Hermione snapped with a low voice. She had realised they ought to keep her voices as quiet as possible in case they attracted any unwanted attention. Not that it was likely since they were in the middle of nowhere.

Harry chuckled under his breath, but tried to, _unsuccessfully_ Hermione thought, cover it up with a cough. "Never mind, forget I said anything." He seemed to have caught on, because he had lowered his voice too.

Hermione gazed at Harry dumbfounded. Was she becoming less of a zombie now that she had set her sights on Ron? She still felt that gaping hole in her heart that could only be repaired once she was back in Ron's arms, but perhaps recent events had given her some sort of sense of purpose after all.

"You were saying?" Harry prompted the change of topic.

"Er, yes." Hermione held up the map and compass. "We can pinpoint our location using the maps. I discovered them in Florish and Blotts last year while, er, browsing the Geography section." she faltered a little bit.

Truth was, she had spent a lot of time in the Geography section in Diagon Alley's book shop desperately looking for some sort of lead to take her to Ron. She had become really good at reading maps as a result. Of course, she hardly wanted to admit that to Harry. There was no logic behind it whatsoever. How could she find a person through a map? She just needed to feel like she was doing something to keep herself sane.

Fortunately, Harry didn't ask. He just continued to wait for Hermione to elaborate.

"So, all we need to do is open the book and it'll appear as a dot on the map along with the co-ordinates." Hermione explained. "We can put the co-ordinates on the numbers on the outside where we would usually put the date of the next meeting."

"Won't you need a wand for that?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Well, techinically, yes." Hermione replied, still staring at the coin in her hand. "But it's quite a simple spell, really. I _should_ be able to do it without my wand to channel the magic, I'd just need to concentrate _really_ hard."

Hermione had learned a tiny bit of wandless magic in her seventh year at Hogwarts, where she had returned while Harry and Ron were training to be Aurors. She had to cast a levitation charm in order to pass her Charms exam. It had been difficult, and not as strong with a wand. Her feather had weakly levitated in the air for all of five seconds before it had fallen down gracefully. Professor Flitwick, however, had seemed rather impressed, and she had recieved full marks. She was sure she could manage a simply Protean charm.

Spreading the book of maps open on the ground, Hermione crouched over the page, which was expanding to almost four times the size of the book. The look on Harry's face was priceless. No matter how long you'd spent in the wizarding world, there would always be things that would surprise those who had a muggle upbringing. As a muggle born, Hermione knew this all too well.

Taking a quick mental note of the co-ordinates on the map, Hermione grasped the fake galleon in her hand and closed her eyes in concentration. As much to her surprise as Harry's, she felt a hot burn in her palm. She heard Harry yelp as he dropped his gold coin in the grass, and quickly began searching for it.

They were silent for a moment, as Hermione gazed around them looking for familiar faces. Just as she was starting to doubt that any members of the DA still had their coins, there was a _crack_ as a dreamy blonde girl appeared in front of them.

"Luna!" Harry grinned, pulling her into a grateful friendly hug.

"Hello Harry, Hermione." Luna Lovegood replied dreamily. "I got here as quick as I could."

Another _crack_ and Neville Longbottom had appeared in front of them. "Alright, Harry?" he grinned. "What are we up to, then?"

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**I always worry about adding too many characters to the one story, as I want to make sure I'm staying as true to canon as possible (of course, epilogue excluded, although I try not to stray from that either - unless there's maths involved).**

**On another note, thank you so much for all your reviews so far! They really do keep me going, so keep them coming! I know my constant nagging for reviews might be annoying, but they really do help! It's good to know when I'm on the right track. As always, if you spot any mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know. I will change it as soon as I get the chance. **

**Next chapter should be up by the middle of next week! **


	8. Multiple Side Alongs

**This chapter is another short one, but the next one will be up either later on tonight or tomorrow during the day! (GMT)**

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The scene felt really surreal to Hermione. Harry was explaining everything to Luna and Neville as Hermione stared at the coin she was still holding in her hands. There had been twenty eight members of the DA, yet only two had showed up.

Of course, many of them couldn't be there. _Fred and Colin for instance_, Hermione thought woefully. She figured that most of them had more than likely binned the coin, rather than ignored it.

George, on the other hand, Hermione knew for a fact still had his coin. Things had been difficult for George after the Battle of Hogwarts. Without his twin, he had to adapt to life again. On top of it all, most of his family found it difficult to look at him. Ginny had admitted to Hermione one night after visiting George and Angelina that it was difficult to be around him, and to look him in the face. Molly Weasley had burst into tears one evening when the whole family had met for dinner, and George and Angelina showed up. Of course, Mrs Weasley claimed they were tears of joy, but George could clearly tell his mother was trying not to hurt his feelings. Even George admitted one drunken evening with Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron that he struggled to look in the mirror, to have Fred's face staring back at him. Hermione's heart sank as she thought of how hard George really had it. Even for identical twins, Fred and George had been extremely close.

Marietta Edgecombe, Zacharias Smith and Cho Chang had more than likely thrown their coins out. _Just as well_, Hermione thought. Marietta had sold them out to Delores Umibridge and her Inquisitorial Squad, Smith had just been... difficult for most of the meetings, and he had abandoned them before the Battle of Hogwarts along with the Slytherins. Cho Chang and Harry had a thing once, which would probably make things awkward, especially since Harry was now married.

"We're going to find him, you know." Luna interrupted Hermione's thoughts while gazing far off into the distance and sitting on the ground cross-legged beside her.. "Dad told me that when two people are in love, they have some sort of connection together. I'm not quite sure what it meant, but I suppose it's really special."

It wasn't until then that Hermione really took in the appearance of Luna. Looks-wise, she hadn't changed one bit. Her waist length dirty blonde hair was still there, and she _still_ looked constantly surprised. She looked so much prettier, though, without so much clutter of accessories. Of course, she had a purple flower in her hair and some sort of leaf attached to her navy blue dress. Around her wrist was a cuff with some corks attached to it. Still, Hermione realised, this was quite tame for Luna.

"I know." Hermione replied, nodding, then resting her chin on her arms, which were hugging her legs. "I won't stop until I do."

Luna and Hermione sat in silent contemplation while Harry and Neville had clearly been deep in conversation. Hermione overheard Neville say "I've been staying at Dirkstone", and her head snapped up again as she looked at Neville.

"What did you just say?" She asked.

"I said Dirkstone. I've been staying at Dirkstone for a few weeks now. Strange, quiet town. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves." Neville repeated.

Hermione froze as she thought this over. What was it about that place that unsettled her? She had never been there, or even read about it, yet her eyes had been drawn to it on a map. She stood up and walked over to the boys.

"Neville," Hermione said, drawing the map that they had used earlier from her pocket, and looking through the pages before presenting a page to Neville. "Is this it?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, that's it. The Ministry sent me there a few weeks back, said there had been some strange goings on and that I had to investigate. If you ask me, the town is just full of weirdos." Neville shook his head, pointing to the church in the middle. "This church has been closed for years, according to the locals."

Hermione looked pointedly at Harry, who seemed a little bit lost. Apparently he had forgotten their conversation back in the Ministry library. He glanced at Neville, who clearly had no idea what was going on either.

"Harry, maybe we should go with Neville." Hermione continued to stare at the map as she spoke. "I just, I... I feel as though we should be there. I don't know why."

"_What?_" Harry asked, whirring round to meet Hermione's eyes.

"I know, it's weird, I just... I feel drawn to it. I can't explain. Can we just go and check it out?" Hermione asked, pleading.

Harry sighed. "Well, we still need to sort out the wand problem before we go anywhere."

"Wand problem?" Luna asked, her huge eyes looking up at everyone from the ground where she sat.

"The trace." Harry said simply. Luna looked a little confused. Neville, however, nodded in an understanding way.

"Oh for heavens sake, Harry, Luna doesn't work for the Ministry." Hermione rolled her eyes, taking a seat beside Luna again. "We can't use magic without it being detected by Hornrock. That's why we need your help."

"You can use my wand," Luna said, holding her wand out to Hermione. "Dad's been promising to take me shopping, I can go to Diagon Alley and get a new one!"

Hermione had been meaning to visit the new wand shop in Diagon Alley. Ollivanders, of course, had closed down years ago. Hermione had heard talk of a new wand shop that had opened up in it's place, named Puissants. The French lady that owned it seemed to be quite knowledgeable in wand lore, according to people who had visited the place.

"Oh, Luna, that would be marvellous!" Hermione exclaimed, drawing Luna into a surprise hug.

"It's a shame, though." Luna sighed, looking put down. "I do love my wand. I hope the new one matches it" she said, passing the wand to Hermione.

"If it doesn't, we'll bring it back to you." Harry promised, walking to where Hermione and Luna were sitting and sitting down beside them, followed by Neville. "But we really _need_ to get going. It won't be long before Hornrock realises that he can trace us."

"Dirkstone?" Hermione asked once again. Harry looked hesitant. "Look, we don't have a plan right now. All we have is this inkling that I have. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I still think we need to go there."

"Fine." Harry replied sceptically. "But according to the map, there's no portkey network. "

"No," Hermione agreed, but she couldn't stop herself as a grin spread across her face. "But Neville's been there. He can take us. How are you at multiple side along apparitions, Neville?"

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**This chapter is definitely an in-between one. But the next one will be exciting, honest! As stated earlier, next chapter will be up very soon to make up for it! College work is piling up now, but I don't have much to edit for the next one and I do want to get it up as soon as possible. Looking forward to reading your reviews! **


	9. Dirkstone

**Told you it would be quick! Didn't want to leave too long a space between them this time, because the last few chapters have been a little lacking of action and suspense. I hope this makes up for it!**

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The small inn that Neville had brought them to had been packed with muggles. He had apparated them to his room, which was small and bare, then taken them down to where the bar was.

"Then I told him that if he came near my lawn again, I would set the dogs on him!" A rough, ill looking man was saying in the corner to a group of equally disturbing people, who nodded and grunted, grasping on to their pints and some of them raising them up in a toast-like fashion.

"Serves him right!" growled the man next to him, sporting an angry look, a scar over his right eye and several disturbing looking tattoos, one of which looked like a bleeding eyeball.

The bar was full, and the addition of Hermione, Harry, Neville and Luna had not gone un-noticed. There were several hushed conversations going on nearby, commenting on how they were dressed and how they looked suspicious. Hermione clutched onto Harry's arm and whispered "Let's get out of here."

The four of them carried on outside the pub, where Hermione got a good look at the layout of the town. As they had appeared on the map, the buildings all seemed to circle the church in the middle. Hermione shuddered as she gazed upon the church, which sat on top of a hill that lay in the middle of the small village. The wooden buildings around them looked as though they had been over used and falling apart. Almost like slums.

"Homely, isn't it?" Neville grimaced silently. "I've been trying to get clearance to get into the church, but it hasn't been easy. Ministry says it's protected."

Hermione's eyes narrowed on the building suspiciously. "No need to follow Ministry guidelines when you're on the run." she muttered.

Harry nodded, stepping beside Hermione and lowering his voice. "We need to rest first, though. Neville, do you know if there are any free rooms in the inn?"

"_No_!" Hermione whispered, interrupting Neville as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hermione, we haven't properly slept for days now. If we find ourselves in the middle of a battle here, we need to make sure we're well rested." Harry shuddered, too. "That church gives me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Hermione knew the feeling. She felt it, too. She knew Harry was right, of course, she just wanted to charge in and see if she could find Ron. On the other hand, though, she wouldn't be much good in the state that she was in. Her eyes were heavy, muscles weak and her brain was straining to function.

Neville looked back at the inn. "Gregory should be able to get you a room somewhere. He's behind the bar. Just don't stare at him too long, he's a little... aggressive." he warned them, ushering them back inside the busy inn.

About ten minutes later, after fighting their way through the thick crowd that surrounded the bar, they faced the man that Neville had warned them about. He had a huge scar spanning from the top of his cheek to the corner of his mouth. After an awkward exchange where the bar keeper tried to accuse Harry of staring at his scar and Harry attempting to calm the man down by apologising and explaining that he wasn't staring, the man grudgingly led them up the stairs, pushing past the customers surrounding them.

Hermione's room was much the same as Neville's, and she had assumed Harry's and Luna's was too. Luna, much to the protests of Hermione and Harry, had insisted on staying to help them out. Harry had asked Neville to check on Ginny for him, and to let her know they were safe.

The cold, hard bed would have usually been unfit for anyone to manage a good sleep on, but as Hermione closed her eyes she found herself in a familiar scene.

Ron's eyes were bloodshot, red and heavy. He looked frailer, and dangerously close to death. The image stabbed Hermione like a dagger to the chest. The top half of his body, completely uncovered now, was laid with cuts, scars, bruises and dried in blood. The bottom half covered, as earlier, by rags. The torn bottoms barely went to his ankles. His eyelids strained open as the wall opened up, and an unfamiliar looking man walked in with a cloaked figure.

"We've had him here for a year, Mistress. Found him lurking around in the _forbidden_ area." A sleezy looking man with slicked back, black hair and a long pointed nose was speaking to the person in the cloak.

"My master would have been proud." A vile, familiar female drawl came from the cloak. Hermione could feel the chill going down the back of her spine, even though she seemed, like always, to have no presence in the place.

"_You_." Ron growled weakly. If the room hadn't been so deadly silent at the time, Hermione would have doubted that he had even spoken at all.

"Me." The cloaked witch raised her hands, pulling down her hood and unveiling a mass of black, frizzy hair, and a gaunt face that was staring at Ron with intensity.

As well as the physical pain he was clearly in, the emotional pain was etched on Ron's face now, and Hermione could see the trace of a tear falling from his red rimmed eye and down his cheek.

"What's the matter, boy?" the woman cackled, drawing a wand up to him. "Not happy to see me?"

Ron didn't answer, and instead weakly turned his face to face away from her with a scowl.

"Is it something to do with that Mudblood I tortured?" the woman flashed a malicious grin, stepping closer to Ron. "Or that _boy_ I-"

"Don't." Ron strained, cutting her off. "Don't talk about th- them." He was struggling for breath.

A cold, hard cackle filled the dungeon, filling Ron's face with rage.

"No matter." She grinned the same grin again. "We know where the Mudblood is now. We will have her in a matter of hours. You, on the other hand, have an hour to tell us what we need to know, or your girlfriend will." The woman raised her head to look at the man beside him. "Fetch the others."

The man disappeared, then appeared back in the room with three additional men. It was only then that Hermione noticed they had all been wearing the same cloaks. Black, with dark green trimming, and a V on the chest.

"She doesn't know anything." Ron croaked in a weak, breathless voice. Leave h-her alone." He was shaking now as two of the unfamiliar looking wizards approached him.

"Take him down." The woman was still grinning with an evil expression.

The two wizards that were approaching him held their wands to the cuffs that were binding Ron. Without saying a word, flashes of dark purple light surrounded him as he fell to the floor, the two wizards catching him with a tight, painful looking grip. Ron's eyes squeezed together in agony.

"You have information we want, boy, and you will give it to us."

"Never." Ron cracked.

"I hoped you would say that." the woman simpered, making a swift movement with her wand. "_Crucio!_"

Ron shook violently in the hands of the two men, still squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't let out a noise, but Hermione could see the agony in the expression he wore on his face.

"I w-won't say anything" Ron whispered in a growl, straining his voice. "I will d-die b-before I tell you."

"That can be arranged." A familiar male drawl came from outside. Ron froze as his eyes shot upwards towards the opening in the wall and a blond man walked in, his messy looking hair drooping down just above his eyes.

On top of it all, Hermione wasn't prepared for what she saw next. She first heard a scuffle just outside, as a familiar voice growled "Get _off_ me." The voice filled Hermione with dread.

Ron's eyes widened. He clearly recognised the voice too. His face went even paler than it had been as his younger sister was pushed through the door in front of him, along with Neville Longbottom.

"_No_! Ron yelled, his voice clearly coming back to him. "Let her go! Let her go now! I wi-"

Ron stopped as he took in Ginny's appearance, and his mouth fell open. The bump on her stomach was outlined from the moon shining through the tiny barred window.

"Ginny..." Ron whispered, clearly trying to choke back the tears. "Y-you're-"

"Are you ready to speak yet, Weasley?" The blond man spoke gruffly. He had done quite a lot of growing up. Stubble lay on the man's chin, and his messy hair that they were used to seeing slicked back fell down past his eyes. Hermione got the feeling there was something Draco Malfoy wasn't letting on, though.

"Lay your wand on her, Malfoy, and I won't stop until every last one of you suffers." Ron growled.

"Ron, don't-" Ginny croaked tearfully, reaching out for her brother.

"What will we do with them?" Draco turned to face the cloaked, black haired woman, who was now staring intently at Ginny.

"Let's have a little fun." Bellatrix Lestrange replied.

What happened next was a little distorted. A piercing scream echoed in the room, along with flashes of green and red light flying in all sorts of directions. Then she heard a high pitched shriek as the scene once again disappeared.

"Ginny!" Hermione screamed, once again firing up from the cold hard inn bed. "No." She choked, fighting back the tears. She jumped as she heard a loud crash in Harry's room next to her, giving her the impression he had dropped something. Within seconds, Harry crashed through her door panting with a panic stricken expression. He had heard her shouting for Ginny.

"H-Harry," Hermione sobbed. "T-they've got her. They've g-got Ginny."

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**Just in case this chapter makes you think we're nearing the end, we're really not. We've actually just reached around the middle of the story. As always, please review, especially now. I've put a lot of work into this and it's eating into my spare time from college. While I don't mind that, I do like to know what people are thinking so far. Any theories of where this is going? Of course, I already know, but I'm interested to read your thoughts!**


	10. Imprisoned

**Story** **is moving pretty quickly now. There wasn't much to be changed in this chapter. Don't worry, all will be explained in due time. There is still plenty of chapters to go before the story comes to an end. (Trust me, I have read Harry Potter far too many times to justify making mistakes with storylines!)**

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An ashen-faced Hermione sat on the small bed in the tiny room reciting the details of her dream to Harry. Once she was done, she could see that Harry was shaking. She had never seen him look so scared in his life.

"How is she still alive?" Hermione whispered. Molly Weasley had struck her down at the battle of Hogwarts. She had seen Bellatrix Lestrange's body sprawled on the ground herself. It didn't make sense at all.

"We need to go. Now." Harry choked, a tear falling from his left eye. His mind was obviously on other matters. "Now. I'll apparate across the world if I need to. I don't _care_ if I get splinched."

"Let's think about this. We don't have a lot of time," Hermione was speaking in an almost apologetic voice as she stood up and drew Harry into her arms. "I still think we should try the church."

Harry wasn't looking at Hermione. He was once again staring at the locket, trying to piece things together. Hermione unclipped the locket at the back and handed it to Harry.

"I wish we could open this," Harry said. "It obviously has some sort of connection with Ron."

Hermione nodded. She, too, had noticed the fact that every time she saw Ron in her dreams, she had been gripping on to the locket. Something then occurred to her.

"Wear the locket, Harry." She said quickly, her eyes widening with urgency.

Harry looked down at the locket. Sceptically, he placed it around his neck, and instantly hardened his expression.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked.

"I feel-" Harry began. However, how Harry felt would have to wait as Hermione's door burst open, and two men were standing there in identical black cloaks with green lining, staring eerily at them.

Hermione clutched on to Harry, but it was too late. The men had spanned the small room in seconds, grabbing on to the pair.

Everything went dark, and she was dizzy. This time, however, she didn't see Ron. Instead, she opened her eyes to find that she and Harry were in a familiar looking room. It was identical to the one she had seen Ron and Ginny in. Rather than being chained to the wall like Ron, however, Hermione and Harry were chained to each other back to back in the middle of the room.

"Where are we?" Hermione groaned weakly.

Harry was staring at the floor, as he croaked "The church. You were right. I felt it as soon as I put on the locket."

Hermione felt her whole body freeze as she asked the question she dreaded to hear the answer to. "Where is the locket?"

Harry hung his head and sighed. "They took it."

This was it. She had waited so many years to find Ron, and now that she knew where he was, she was powerless to save him. She looked down at the floor to see some drops of blood and her eyes widened. This room wasn't _just_ identical to the room she had seen. Her view of the room was restricted, but she had studied the room so intently before, that she recognised the tiny corner she could see.

"They were here." Hermione breathed. She had no doubt that the blood on the floor belonged to Ron. "Where are they?" Panic was taking over now. Without the locket, she felt that she had once again lost all connection to Ron.

Hermione could hear the wall open, but couldn't see it as her back was turned. She felt Harry freeze behind her as he clenched his fists with rage.

"Where did you hide them?" The woman growled, circling the pair of them with her wand held high.

"What are you talking about you mad woman?" Hermione heard Harry growl with venom.

"Don't get smart with me, Potter. _Crucio!_"

Hermione felt a sharp, hot pain across her entire body as she screamed out loud. It was like sharp knives were penetrating every inch of her body. She could hear Harry strain with the pain. The curse had hit them both. Hermione felt a tear run down her cheek as the pain resided.

"Well , well little girl." Bellatrix simpered as she flashed her an ugly, gap toothed grin. "Here we are again. If you don't co-operate, we're going to have another little scene like last time.

"_I don't know anything_" Hermione wailed, reaching to grasp Harry's hand behind her as she tried to steady her breathing, preparing for what was coming.

Bellatrix pulled out a small dagger and walked slowly towards them. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tight, preparing for what was coming.

"_Wait!_" Harry yelled, grasping onto Hermione's hand as though to comfort her. "I know. I can help you. Just don't hurt us."

Hermione had no clue what Harry was doing, but he seemed to sound confident. Her chest tightened as she watched Bellatrix slow her movement, looking in Harry's direction.

"Very well. Out with it Potter." She snarled, facing him. "Just know, if I find you are lying to me, the Mudblood gets it."

"What do you want to know?" Harry croaked weakly. Was he trying to distract her?

"Where did they go?" Bellatrix spat, holding her wand up to Hermione. Hermione's eyes widened in realisation. Was she asking about what she thought she was asking about? She glanced at the blood on the floor again.

"Answer faster, Potter. _CRUC_-"

"_Expelliarmus_!" A voice boomed from behind Hermione as her heart lept. She saw Bellatrix fall to the floor as her wand landed beside Hermione. She felt the binding curse instantly remove itself from her body, and the chains loosen as an golden light enveloped her and Harry.

All strength returning to her body, she grabbed the wand and ran towards their saviour, the adrenaline pumping through her. She grabbed on to his face, making sure she wasn't seeing things, and that he really was in front of her. That familiar red hair, the facial hair growing in from a year's imprisonment, the tired looking circles around his eyes.

Ron had clasped onto her face, too. Before she knew it, he pulled her towards him so that their lips were caressing one another in a hungry, longing, consuming kiss that Hermione had been longing for as they grasped onto one another tightly, Ron running his left hand through Hermione's messy hair.

As soon as the kiss begun, it it had been interrupted by Harry clearing his throat. The couple turned towards him. His face was still etched with worry.

"Ginny's safe, mate." Ron croaked, giving him a weak smile. Harry instantly relaxed, then pulled Ron into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you, Ron." Harry replied.

Hermione grasped on to Ron's hand. "Let's get out of here before she wakes up." She motioned towards the unconscious Bellatrix Lestrange that was sprawled out in the corner.

"I don't think we can apparate in here" Harry frowned.

"We can't, but I know the way out." Ron's voice was barely a whisper now. The adrenaline of finding Hermione had clearly worn off, and he was struggling to stay on his feet. Hermione grasped on to him quickly as he stumbled. Noticing this, Harry quickly grasped on to Ron's other side, helping Hermione hold him up.

"Lead the way mate." Harry replied, clapping his best friend lightly on the back.

The trio made their way down the dark, dingy corridors of the dungeon, before Ron quietly instructed them up a steep staircase. The staircase seemed to go on forever, especially with Ron losing strength moment by moment. His eyelids drooped so that they were almost closed.

Once they reached the top, a wall stood in front of them blocking them from going any further.

"What now, Ron?" Hermione asked with an air of concern. His body was getting heavier and heavier.

"Bricks." He croaked. He tried to open his mouth again, but to no avail. Ron had lost his voice. Hermione and Harry exchanged glances.

Hermione drew Bellatrix's wand to the bricks, whispering "Alohamora." It was only then that Hermione noticed that three of the bricks had been shaped differently and sticking outwards from the rest of the wall. As the three bricks clicked in to place, the wall whirred to the side as it had done in the dungeon.

Hermione wasn't expecting such a beautiful sight to materialise behind the dark, dingy scene that they had just left. They had entered the main area of the church, which was light and airy. Golden spires reached atop the massive structure, where statues of angelic looking people in robes stood in golden archways. Fancy looking golden, patterned pillars lay around the edges of the structure. Hermione was taken aback.

"-the Mudblood and the Potter boy." Hermione heard gruff voices from the other end of the room. She and Harry pulled Ron behind the nearest pillar, thanking their lucky stars that it was wide enough to conceal all three of them.

"The blood traitor got away, though." Hermione felt a chill as the gravelly voice of her boss echoed in the large building.

The trio stood behind the pillar silently as the sound of the wall opening again filled the room. Hermione peered around the pillar to see that they were gone. Quickly, Harry and Hermione grasped on to Ron, marching to the massive glass mosaic doors, where light poured into the room.

They had no time to celebrate as they exited the church. Grabbing Ron into her arms, and pulling Harry beside her, the trio disapparated with a _crack_.

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**You didn't think I was going to keep him imprisoned for the entire story, did ya? Next chapter will be uploaded ASAP, but I'm taking a trip next week so there may be a small delay coming up. I'll try to get as much of the story put up before then as possible.**


	11. Bittersweet Reunions

**A lot of flashbacks in this chapter. I hope I managed them okay. I know a lot of things still don't make sense. They won't until near enough the end of the story. You've probably noticed I do enjoy my mystery! **

**Also, just a quick note to say thanks to the reviewer who pointed out that the fic had been removed from the Ron / Hermione section. No idea how that happened, but hopefully I've sorted it now! I will do actual shout outs soon, as a lot of you have taken the time to review throughout the entire story, which I am grateful for. Of course, it probably won't be until the last chapter that I'll get a chance to do this, so I will just say thank you just now in the meantime. Thank you!**

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Being in her old bedroom felt strange. Her parents had kept it exactly the way she left it. Neat, clean and lined with books. Hermione glanced over to the double bed in the middle of the room against the back wall where Ron lay under her colourful patched duvet and sighed.

Hermione had been in such a rush when she pulled her best friend and fiancée out of the church, that she panicked and apparated them to the first place she could think of. Since she had lost Ron, her parents hadn't really seen or heard from her a whole lot. There were a lot of people that hadn't seen or heard from her in a while. Needless to say, therefore, that Hermione's parents had been shocked to find their tearful daughter kneeling on their doorstep with a puzzled looking Harry grasping on to her arm and a white face, and an extremely pale and weak looking Ron sprawled in her arms, barely clad in rags.

Taking a seat on the chair next to him, Hermione clasped on to Ron and stroked his hand gently. He had been out for days. Harry had gone to the Burrow to tell everyone that Ron was safe and in recovery. He hadn't returned yet, though Hermione suspected this had something to do with Ginny. She had noticed the guilt in his eyes when she had told him about her capture. He had felt responsible, no doubt.

Thankfully, the Ministry seemed to have lost track of them when Hermione had apparated using the wand that she had grabbed in the dungeon as Bellatrix was disarmed. No doubt the wand had no trace on it. As if Bellatrix Lestrange would have allowed such a thing. Of course, she had cast countless protection and concealment charms on her parents house a long time ago, and renewed them after she had put Ron to bed with Harry's help.

Not for the first time since she had arrived home, Hermione sat and pondered the events of the last week. She had no idea how Ginny and Ron had escaped, since Ron hadn't woken up yet and she hadn't heard from Ginny or Harry. They couldn't risk trying to contact one another. Ron was far too fragile to handle another apparation if they were to be found.

"Her-Hermione." A shaky voice rattled beside her. Hermione's heart lept as she gently squeezed Ron's hand and gave him a weak smile.

"Shh... don't strain yourself." Hermione whispered, stroking her hand through his thick, messy red hair.

Ron's eyes were open and staring into hers now, and he was grasping on to Hermione's hand, shaking. "D-don't g-go..."

"I'm not going anywhere." Hermione replied gently, stroking his hand again. "I'm here, now just you concentrate on getting better." She bent low and placed a light peck on his cheek.

She really wanted to ask Ron about what had happened. Both in the last three years, and in the few hours between her dream and her capture. She had so many unanswered questions, but her priority was to make Ron better. Instead, she sat pondering inside her head as Ron was still trying to gather strength.

The locket had been her main worry in the last few days that Ron had been unconscious. It had been missing since they had been taken to the church. What was it for? Why did Ron send it to her? Why did it show her Ron while she was asleep, and why only in the last few days? How much trouble were they in now that the locket had ended up in the hands of the cult that had kept Ron imprisoned for over a year?

Then there was Bellatrix Lestrange. She was supposed to be dead. Hermione saw her body. How was she breathing now? There was definitely some dark magic involved in her resurrection, or whatever it was. Who was she working for? Hermione examined the wand that sat beside her on the table next to her bed. She hadn't recognised it. It definitely wasn't the one Hermione had taken from her before. Hermione had broken that one into pieces and burned it. She shuddered as she recalled the screeching noise the wand made as it crackled in the flames of the fire at the Burrow, surrounded by the Weasleys.

What was even curiouser was the wand that Ron had been carrying. Hermione hadn't noticed until she taken it from him as he had collapsed in her arms. It was the one Draco Malfoy had been carrying when Hermione saw him in her vision.

A movement caught the corner of her eye. Ron was struggling to sit up in her bed. "Wh-where are we?" he shuddered.

"My old bedroom," Hermione replied soothingly, rising from the seat that she was sitting on and swooping round to take a seat on the bed next to Ron. "I missed you so much." Her voice cracked a little.

Ron leaned his head on Hermione's shoulder, grimacing in pain. "Missed you too."

"I know you've been through a lot, but we do need to talk." Hermione looked down at Ron's poorly face. "Not now. But soon. There's a lot of unanswered questions, and we need to make sure Bella-"

"It's not her." Ron interrupted with anther shudder. Hermione gazed at him perplexed and worried. "No, I mean, this... whatever they are. I don't know who or what it is."

"I don't understand." Hermione said, pulling Ron into her arms and holding him. Being able to do that again felt so good. She was worried, however, that Ron wasn't making sense.

"I can't explain it. Sh-she changes." Ron swallowed the lump in his throat, then continued. "I-I saw it change, Hermione. It can change into anyone, living or d-dead." Ron paused and cleared his throat, choking back a tear. "I d-don't think it's human. B-but it h-has their memories."

Hermione rose from the bed once again, pulling out a plastic cup from the cupboard in her bedside table, and a bottle of water. She poured the water into the cup and handed it to Ron, returning to her previous position as Ron shakily took a sip. She began to stroke his hair as he continued, leaning on her chest.

"You don't have to carry on." Hermione frowned. She didn't want to force him to tell her everything straight away. "Just take your time. I need you to get better."

The couple lay in Hermione's bed in silence for what seemed like an hour. Ron was clutching on to Hermione's waist and snuggled into her chest as Hermione had both her arms around him, still stroking his hair gently, and placing the occasional kiss on his forehead.

"_Hermione, dear_." She heard the call of her mother through the silence in the room. "_You have, er, visitors._"

Hermione smiled down at Ron. "I'm guessing they're your visitors."

Ron nodded weakly, but still grasped on to Hermione. "I-I d-don't want you to leave me."

"Shh," Hermione replied, cupping his face in his hand and giving him a reassuring kiss on the lips, cut all too short by the rattling of her bedroom door. "I'll be right outside the door." She slid off the bed, squeezing Ron's hand gently once more, then opened it, letting in a mass of red hair.

The rest of the Weasleys stood back as Mrs Weasley, sober for a change, wailed as she ran towards Ron, scooping him into her arms and murmuring something about her baby boy. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Hermione would have giggled.

Spotting the black hair in the crowd of red, Hermione made her way to Harry. It was time to get more answers. Harry nodded as Hermione motioned towards the hallway with her head. She cast a concerned glance at Ron, who seemed preoccupied with a sobbing Molly Weasley who was holding onto him for dear life, then followed Harry out the door.

"No one saw all of you, did they?" Hermione asked. She wasn't about to risk Ron's life when she had just gotten him back. She still felt like it might be some time before she truly got Ron back, since he really wasn't acting himself. Of course, she had suspected nothing less. In fact, Hermione had expected worse considering he had been imprisoned and tortured for a whole year. There was also still the lingering question about what he had been doing the other two years he had been missing.

Harry shook his head. "No, we didn't apparate. We took the train. I had expected Mr Weasley to have been admiring everything and attracting attention, but he just sat and held onto Mrs Weasley's hand. They've barely spoken since we left."

Hermione nodded. "Understandably so. What did you find out?"

Harry proceeded to tell Hermione about the last few days. Apparently, once he had gotten to the Burrow, everyone was in a panic. Ginny had already told them about what had happened. Molly Weasley had been ready to travel to Dirkstone to get Ron, before Harry told her that he was safe.

Once they had gotten a moment alone while Molly was trying to contact the rest of the family, Ginny had explained to Harry that Draco Malfoy had helped them escape.

Hermione's mouth fell open as Harry told her this. "Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked, perplexed. He was the last person Hermione had suspected to help.

"Lucius is a member of the Vicirius. They're the group that captured Ron." Harry explained.

"That still doesn't explain why he helped." Hermione replied suspiciously. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"He was still at the Burrow when I had gotten there. I was the same - sprung my wand out as soon as I saw him. Ginny stopped me." Harry sounded a bit bitter about that fact. "He's still a sarcastic, self righteous git, but he did seen to be telling the truth, and he did save my pregnant wife, so I do owe him a chance." he finished begrudgingly.

"What did he tell you?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked a little worried now, and glanced around him to make sure no one was listening in. They could still hear the wailing of Molly Weasley coming from Hermione's room. "The Vicirius is a group that came together after the fall of Voldemort. Malfoy said he'd been forced into joining by his dad." He didn't sound overly convinced by this fact. "He didn't really seem know anything else. He had only been there for a few days, and says he was kept in the dark about everything. He claimed he was just as surprised to see Bellatrix there as we were."

"He didn't seem all that surprised." Hermione said, thoughtfully. "But he did look like he was planning something. He must have been planning on getting Ginny, Neville and Ron out."

Harry nodded. "That's what he said. He's gone into hiding now, too."

"That's all he told you?" Hermione enquired, thinking about all the times Malfoy had chosen the dark over light. Something just wasn't making sense. "There must have been something in it for him."

"That's what I think." Harry agreed. "But I don't think he's a threat. He genuinely seems to want to avoid being associated with them."

The pair stood in the hallway quietly for a few minutes. The Weasleys sounded as though they were in good spirits. They could hear George telling a joke, and the rest of them roaring with laughter. Hermione couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that they still had a lot to figure out.

"Has Ron been awake long?" Harry asked her, gazing at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione nodded and filled Harry in on what Ron had told her, about how he didn't think the _thing_ that had taken her shape and her memories had been human. Of course, Bellatrix Lestrange was barely human herself.

"What confuses me is that it picks up the memories and personality of the person that it turns into. It's not a Metamorphmagus. I think Ron's right about it not being human."

Harry stared at Hermione equally perplexed, contemplating silently.

Although Hermione understood that they were a lot closer than they had been previously to finding everything out, her conversation with Harry had also raised more questions. She would have to get access to some books. There was only one safe place she could think of to do that. Hogwarts.

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**This is probably my last update for a week, as I leave for my trip soon. I will try to do another, but it's unlikely. I'm trying to finish my college work before I go, and that takes priority right now. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible though. If I have time I will attempt another update. In the meantime, why don't you review and let me know what I'm doing right / wrong? **


	12. The Tone of Surpise

**Right, fair warning. I've rewritten this scene quite a bit, as my original intention was an M rating for the fic. I didn't want to restrict the viewing so much though, so I changed it to T. This means, although there are scenes with adult themes here, I don't go in to detail. I may post the original chapter as a oneshot in the future though, if anyone is interested. I had to cut it down quite a lot. (EDIT: This has now been posted under the name The Tone of Surpise as requested by some of the reviewers. Enjoy and don't forget to review!)**

**I apologise for the delay on this chapter. As I mentioned last time, I've been away for the week (in which I visited the Harry Potter Studios!) and haven't been able to update. The next week might be a little hectic too, as I'm doing the last of my assignments, but I'll try to get chapters uploaded. My work will be my priority though.**

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The next few days passed without any notable events. Harry had returned back to the Burrow to spend some more time with Ginny and to ensure all possible protection was around her at all times, and Hermione barely left the side of her bed where Ron lay, sleeping most of the time.

As the time passed, Ron was getting more and more alert, but still struggled to talk about what had happened in the last few years.

Hermione had filled him in on her life. Ron stayed silent as he listened intently to her talk about how she had become an Auror, though winced slightly when she mentioned the locket. In a bid not to force Ron into any discussions he wasn't ready for, she moved on to tell him about Hornrock and how he had almost sent Hermione and Harry on a quest for the hat of Anala.

"Then we... found you." Hermione trailed off. She wanted to tell him about how the locket had led her to him, but she had to wait. Unfortunately, she also had the foreboding feeling that they were running out of time.

"C'mere." Ron croaked, motioning for Hermione to join him on the bed. As she crawled next to him, leaning her head on his chest, he began to stroke her hair gently.

"I love you." Ron breathed into her hair, then kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too." Hermione choked into his chest. It felt surreal to be lying next to him, talking to him and having the chance to be with him again.

Hermione still worried that someone would take him away from her again, and she didn't think she could survive it this time. She had been a shell of herself for years, just as far gone from everyone else as he had gone from her. The one thing Hermione knew, was that things felt right again being in his arms.

"I thought about you. The whole time." Ron whispered softly, gazing down weakly at her.

Hermione froze. She didn't want to ruin the moment they were having, but she wasn't going to stop him if he felt like he wanted to talk about things. She sat up, gently resting his head on to her chest and wrapped her arms around him gently, trying not to hurt him. He looked so fragile.

"I missed you so much." Ron continued, a tear glinting in his eye. "I thought I would never see you again. Or that you would have moved on-"

"Moved on?" Hermione interrupted, feeling a little offended. Didn't Ron realise by now that she could never imagine being able to move on from him? She never believed in soul mates, but she and Ron had become close enough.

"Found someone better." He mumbled sheepishly.

Her face softened, and her lip twitched. Ron glanced at her hesitantly, unsure of what her reaction would be. He looked relieved, however, as Hermione began to buckle with laughter.

"Have you gone mad, woman?" Ron laughed too, enlightened by the smile on Hermione's face.

"Better? Someone better?" Hermione choked out between giggles. "Ronald Weasley, when will you get it? I don't think anyone is better for me than you are." She kissed his nose gently. Ron, however, moved his face so that her lips were on his, locking her into an very intimate and lingering kiss.

His hand stroked down the left side of her head, playing with her bushy curls gently, as he moved so that he was pressed against her fully.

Sensing Ron wanted more than just a kiss, she pulled away from him, searching his eyes. Ron was looking at her with that familiar hungry look she remembered so well. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, but she didn't want to take the risk of hurting him.

When Hermione told him this, it was Ron's turn to let out a small laugh. Hermione always loved his smile, and he knew it drove her crazy.

"I want to be with you, Hermione. I know you won't hurt me." Ron paused, then fixed her with a serious look. "But if you're not ready yet, that's fine too."

"Oh, Ron, you know I want you." Hermione replied just as seriously. "But you're too weak."

Almost as though to prove himself capable, Ron pressed his lips hungrily on Hermione's lips, massaging her tongue furiously with his own. Hermione, completely lost in the moment, responded by rolling on to her back so that Ron lay on top of her, stroking her leg upwards until he reached the button of her jeans. He looked at her as though for permission, to which Hermione nodded. This seemed to be enough reassurance for him.

Before they knew it, they were lying next to each other unclothed feeling lighter than air. Hermione pulled the cover over them and kissed him, gentler this time. Ron murmured into her lips. "Hermione, you are bloody amazing, you know that?"

"Always the tone of surprise." Hermione laughed, pressing her forehead against his. Ron chuckled.

The couple froze as there was a knock on the door. Scrambling quickly to gather up her clothes, and throwing some clothes on the bed for Ron to put on, Hermione pulled herself quickly back into her jeans and t-shirt. When she turned back to Ron, he was fumbling with his own t-shirt, pulling it clumsily into place.

Hermione squeezed her eyes together as she moved to answer the door. Surely whoever was on the other side would suspect something. It wasn't like they were too young, she just wasn't up for discussing the matter with her parents. She could only imagine that they would be mortified. Her heart loosened a little as she opened the door to see George's face, which looked as though he was sharing a private joke with himself.

"Alright, little brother?" George grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at the couple. "Sorry to interrupt."

Ron grumpily threw a pillow at him, which missed George and hit the shelf behind him. Thankfully, the shelf was so packed with books that it just sat still.

"You need to sort out your aim, mate." George grinned at his little brother. Hermione couldn't remember George being this happy since Fred. She knew, though, that this had a lot to do with Ron being found. Despite all their joking around, Hermione knew that the Weasleys all cared deeply for one another, as a family should.

Hermione kissed Ron on the cheek, ignoring George's mocking. "I'll wait outside and let you two talk." She didn't want to get in the way when the Weasleys came to visit. They deserved as much alone time with Ron as she did.

George winked at her as she left. Hermione stifled a laugh, trying not to give herself away, even though George clearly knew what she and Ron had been up to not long before he knocked on the door. She closed the door, went to the bathroom, fixed her hair and her clothes, then sat downstairs with her parents for the couple of hours that George visited for. She was glad to see him acting like himself again. He, like her, had been renewed by Ron's safety.

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**As per usual, please review. I hope I managed to keep it clean enough without cutting too much out. Next update will be posted ASAP.**


	13. Midnight Talk

**Nearly finished with college! Two days left! I can't wait to finish up for the summer. I imagine that my updates will speed up too. For those of you who were interested and hadn't noticed yet, I put the uncut version of the new chapter as a oneshot named The Tone of Surprise. Go read and review! It's feeling very inferior to this one with it's three (greatly appreciated) reviews!**

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Ron still wasn't his old self, but he was certainly a lot closer compared to the shell that Hermione had found in Dirkstone. _Or_, Hermione thought, _hadn't he found me? _It was true that she was grateful to have him back, but she hadn't intended on him needing to rescue her. She never was, or wanted to be for that matter, the damsel in distress often portrayed in muggle fairytales.

He was sleeping a lot less now. They had been at her home for two weeks and Hermione was growing concerned for the safety of her parents. In fact, if she didn't know about the risks of too many memory charms so well, she would have considered modifying their memory and sending them abroad again.

She had spoken to her parents on a number of occasions about relocating, and explained that they may be in danger, but her parents being muggles had insisted that the police would more than suffice. Hermione had to get moving. She couldn't risk staying there much longer.

It was for this reason that Hermione was packing quietly in her bedroom at midnight. Ron was snoring loudly from her bed - something that she used to get irritated with. Ironically, after his disappearance she had trouble sleeping without the disturbingly loud background noise.

Hermione still hadn't asked Ron about his disappearance, feeling that he still wasn't ready to talk about it. She was surprised, then, when Ron snaked his arm around her waist from behind, his bare chest resting against her back, and leaned his chin on her shoulder telling her "we need to talk" as she threw a ball of black plain socks into her bag - the same bag they had used while hunting Horcruxes. She hadn't even noticed that his snoring had stopped, let alone the fact that he had risen from the bed.

She turned to face him, taking in his worried expression. Ron took her hand as they walked side by side back to Hermione's single bed, pushing aside her pink bed cover which had been crumpled as Ron had risen. Hermione waited for Ron to talk.

The couple sat in silence for a minute as Ron gazed thoughtfully at the floor, most likely deciding where to start. Hermione waited patiently.

"I'm ready." He said finally.

Hermione nodded. She wasn't sure if she fully believed him, but she knew they had to discuss matters soon. They had wasted far too much time. She waited on Ron to continue in silence, not wanting to put him under any pressure.

"Shit, where do I start- Hermione, I don't remember much of what happened. You should know that first." Ron said decidedly. "Once I was captured my memory was heavily modified. All I remember is being in hiding. I don't remember what from."

Hermione frowned. This wasn't the explanation she was hoping for. As much as she knew it wasn't Ron's fault, she couldn't help but feel a little put out. However, she allowed Ron to continue.

"All I remember is-" Ron paused as his voice began to crack. "is being in that room. Hornrock was there. I thought he was coming to help me at first, but he proved me wrong." He looked down at the scars dotted around his chest. Hermione had noticed these on several occasions.

Ron stopped talking. Hermione watched as his face fell, and he buried his face on her shoulder. For the first time since Fred's funeral, Ron began to break down. His shoulders were shaking with silent sobs as Hermione flung her arms around him and pulled him closer to her.

"S-stop." Hermione whispered. Something had just occurred to her. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking of it earlier. "You don't need to tell me."

"B-but it's important" Ron protested between sobs. "I-I need t-to-"

"Stop." Hermione repeated, firmer this time.

"I-I'm such a fucking mess, Hermione." Ron sobbed even louder as Hermione tightened her grip. "I c-can't even... I d-don't want you to s-see me like this."

"Shh." Hermione soothed, stroking his hair as he sobbed into her lap. "It's ok. I understand." she whispered softly to him. Then, to Ron's surprise, she said "we need to get to the Burrow."

Ron looked up at her, his bloodshot eyes tear stained. Hermione looked closely at his face. Since he had cleaned and shaved, she had noticed a few new scars. There was a cut below his right eye and one on his left cheek. She hadn't asked him about them, of course. She wiped his eyes softly and gave him what she hoped was a compassionate smile.

"The Penseive." Hermione explained. "Harry has it."

Ron's eyes widened in understanding, then a flash of panic grazed his face. "N-no, Hermione, I d-don't want you to see-"

"I already saw." Hermione interrupted calmly. They hadn't yet spoke about the locket, but she felt that this was the time to bring it up. "I saw you in that room. I saw you chained up. I saw you being t-tortured- oh, _stop_ it Ron." she sobbed as Ron moved to take her into his arms. "I d-don't want you to comfort me. It's you I'm worried about."

Ron looked a little hurt, but he lowered his arms and Hermione's expression softened again.

"I'm s-sorry." Hermione whispered shakily. "But it's obviously difficult for you to talk about," she took his hand into hers, "and Harry will w-want to know. He wants to help."

It took another half an hour of protests from Ron, but Hermione eventually managed to talk him around. The fact that any time he tried to talk about what had happened he broke down seemed to be the winning point.

Ron helped her finish packing everything into her deceivingly small bag. As she lifted it from the ground, she heard a familiar clutter of books. She had decided not to let her parents know where they were going - the less they knew the better. Thanking her lucky stairs for enlightening charms, she grasped on to Ron's hand and with a loud _crack_, they disapparated.

The Burrow lay in the middle of the dark field - an oddly shaped house, even by wizarding standards. Hermione always felt that this was part of the charm, though. Still holding onto Ron's hand, they made their way to the house. The lack of lights indicated that no one was awake. Of course, why would they be?

The door creaked as Ron pushed it open, pulling Hermione inside by the hand. A strange sense of nostalgia hit her as she remembered the last time she and Ron had sneaked through the Burrow at two in the morning. She smiled to herself. Reminiscing with Ron about their early morning bedroom meet ups, however, would have to wait. They had more important matters to attend to.

As they reached the landing containing Ginny's bedroom, Hermione paused, before knocking gently on the door. She heard a muffled voice at the other end mumble "whozzat?"

Hermione peeked her head around the door to see Harry and Ginny occupying two single beds which had been pushed together. Ginny sat up, rubbing her eyes and shaking Harry, who awoke with a start.

"Sorry." Hermione whispered. She entered the room followed by Ron, who seemed to have gone quiet. "It's urgent."

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**I promise, the next chapter will be one of great reveal! I know things have been a little slow lately but we need to allow for Ron to recover. Next update should be either posted by the end of this week or the start of next week. As always, please review! They are very much appreciated.**


	14. An Unlikely Alliance

**Apologies for the delay. Real life has a habit of getting in the way, sadly, and I had matters I had to attend to. Updates will be back on track, though. Sorry again! Anyone who has been reading this from the start knows that I am never late with updates - actually, I'm usually early. So enjoy the long awaited chapter!**

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Drawing the silvery substance from Ron and placing it into the Pensieve, Hermione and the others stared at it. Ron was looking out the window in silence.

The Ministry of Magic materialised in front of them as they found themselves drawn into Ron's memory. Witches and wizards were bustling about carrying parchments and important looking files, paper planes were flying above them of their own free will and Ron was walking rather speedily towards the Floo network with a pale, terrified expression on his face. Hermione, Harry and Ginny watched as he disappeared through the fireplace.

An odd scene materialised in front of them next. Ron was completely alone in the middle of a deserted forest, yet he appeared to be having a muttered conversation with himself. An argument, even.

"I don't care - no, I can't go home, I need to find it. I need to make sure _they_ don't get it. No - I told you! Stop it!" Ron's face was scrunched up and he was holding onto his head as though trying to calm a headache.

The scene faded again. A much more familiar scene appeared in front of them. They were in Dirkstone again. The church lay in front of them, though Ron was nowhere to be seen. A few dodgy looking characters in the darkly familiar cloaks entered, although Hermione couldn't recognise either. Not that it was all that surprising, there was bound to be plenty of them. Hermione spotted a quick glance of Ron coming out from behind one of the houses where he appeared to be hiding before Dirkstone faded into murky whiteness.

A dark cave next. The eeriness crept over them as Hermione shuddered, watching Ron carefully and quietly walk down the small, bare narrow passage that lay in front of him, his lit wand held in front of him. He appeared to be clutching onto it for dear life, but his hand seemed quite steady.

The passage opened up and a lake appeared in front of them. Hermione felt Harry shudder beside her, and she didn't need to ask why. The scene was painfully familiar. Although there was no boat. No way to get across at all, it seemed.

Hermione watched Ron stand there looking rather bewildered. He edged closer to the water, looking down into the darkness. "Careful - _careful_!" he muttered, as his had drew towards the still water. On his touch, however, Ron yelped and drew back quickly, grasping onto his hand. Hermione concluded that the lake was in fact as cold as it looked. Ron was now looking over at a large rock that Hermione hadn't noticed before. It sat just in front the water, and had something messily carved into it.

"_No!_" Ron protested, evidently alarmed by the writing. "I c-can't!"

Hermione took a closer look. The writing read;

"For the treasure you seek,

You cannot turn back,

Across the lake you must swim,

XIII seconds you have,

Or she will come."

Hermione glanced back at the lake wide eyed. If she had understood it correctly, Ron had thirteen seconds to swim across the massive lake. Ron was shaking, though he edged closer to the ledge, discarding his cloak.

"N-no! _Stop!_" Hermione called after him. But it was no use. Ron's full body was engulfed by the water, causing Ron to cry out in agony. Wasting no time, however, Ron stroked towards the other side as Hermione counted cautiously.

3... 4... 5...

Ron wasn't anywhere near halfway across. The water was no longer still, and seemed to be throwing him off course as he swayed from side to side, gripping on to the water and trying to swim in a straight path.

7... 8...9...

The water was still thrashing him from side to side, although he was just past half way. He wasn't going to make it.

10... 11... 12...

Ron swam swiftly, the edge of the lake appearing closer, but-

Hermione screamed. Harry gripped onto her arm, and was gripping on to Ginny at the same time. A green skinned, long haired woman materialised from the lake. Though this didn't just look like a woman - the face was skeletal. A dress the same colour as the rest of her trailed across the lake as she glided towards Ron. She held something in her hand as she smiled wickedly down at him. Hermione let out a small cry. It was the same cloak that Ron had left on the other side of the lake.

The shock of realisation hit her. "_No!_" she groaned. Ron was going to die. But he wasn't, was he? _He's safe now_ Hermione reminded herself, although this did little to calm her nerves. The woman was still gliding towards Ron, who had made it out of the lake, shakily reaching for his wand. Hermione and the others found themselves transported beside him so that they were closer to the scene.

The grey woman began to wail, clutching Ron's cloak. Ron shot several different colours of lights at her, uttering several spells in quick succession, but to no avail. Not for the first time did Hermione find herself wishing that Ron had paid attention in school. Ron collapsed, still gripping onto his wand, attempting to crawl away.

"_Expelus!_" Ron's mouth was open, however it wasn't him that had uttered the curse. To Hermione's bewilderment, Draco Malfoy stood in front of Ron, his wand held at the creature. Everyone, including Hermione, Harry and Ginny, pressed their hands on their ears as a painful shriek ran through the cave before the woman shrank into nothing.

Ron was breathing heavily, looking up at his unlikely saviour. He didn't look surprised, or grateful, he just grumbled "took you long enough."

"Oh, don't thank me for saving your skin or anything, Weasley." Malfoy bit back sarcastically, surveying their surroundings and sweeping back his short blond hair.

"What's going on? Ginny whispered beside her. What was that thing? And what's Malfoy doing here?"

"A banshee." Hermione breathed. This was the second time she had ever felt gratitude to Draco Malfoy in her entire life. "And I don't know - shh..."

"You should have been watching." Ron snapped, getting to his feet and following Malfoy as he strode to the back wall of the cave, where a small pool lay amongst the rocks. Below this water, something familiar was glinting up at them. Hermione peered closer, then made an automatic grasp for her chest before realising that the locket was no longer there. A sinking feeling hit her as she remembered how they had been stripped of most of their possessions as they were captured.

Malfoy made to grasp for the object, but Ron grabbed his arm before he could. A scowl was shot at him, but Ron shook his head, then simply said "flesh memory."

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy growled impatiently.

"This locket connects the first two people to touch it. It can only be me and..." Ron trailed off, and a look of longing appeared.

Malfoy sniggered. "Is wittle Wonniekins missing his girlfriend?"

"Shut it, Malfoy." Ron snapped. "And she's my fiancée. Now step back and help me figure this out. I've got a feeling it's not going to be as easy as it looks."

Hermione expected Malfoy to argue, but he just smirked and watched as Ron made an unsuccessful attempt to pull the locket out from the water. It just slipped through his fingers as though it was a hologram.

"_Corpori_" Ron said in quiet concentration, a violet steam of light shooting from his wand. He made a grasp for the locket again. Still nothing. Malfoy had stood up and was walking around the area, his attention seemed to focus on something that was glinting from the rocks from behind the pool of water.

"Wait- stop!" Malfoy called. Ron looked over at him hastily. "Don't try anything else."

Ron rose from the pool to join Malfoy's side as they both read something. Hermione couldn't see.

"Should have known." Ron sighed, lifting the glinting object. Hermione gasped and froze with fear. Ron held in his hand a sharp dagger.

"And what good do you think the blood of a blood traitor will do?" Malfoy growled. "Give it here, Weasley." he grabbed the dagger as they both edged closer to the small pool of water.

"I'm still a pureblood!" Ron retorted.

"It says _only the purest of blood_" sneered Malfoy, drawing the dagger to his skin. "Do you think I _want_ to do this? Now - on my command, grab the locket, then we need to apparate straight away. Merlin only knows what will happen to the cave once we take the locket."

In quick succession, Malfoy sliced into his wrist and growled loudly, as Ron made a grab for the locket. The cave began to shake as the pair disappeared with a _crack_, appearing again in front of a mass of rubble.

"Told you." Malfoy smirked, though he was still gripping his wrist which was bleeding wildly.

Ron grabbed his wand and grumbled "Vulnerio" at the gaping wound, as the blood lessened. At the second incantation, the wound closed up and at the third, the wound seemed to clear. Hermione recognised the spell as a modified version of the spell that Snape had cast on Malfoy. Harry had told her about it previously.

Taking a seat on a large rock next to Malfoy, Ron stared intently at the locket. Malfoy scurried to his feet to stare down at Ron.

"I'll leave you to it, traitor." Although at Malfoy's harsh words, Ron snorted and Malfoy disapparated. Alone now, Ron's triumphant gaze faded, and a look of worried anticipation replaced it. The scene faded again.

"Did you do it?" Malfoy was asking. They were in a dimly lit tavern, filled to the brim with muggles. Ron nodded, nudging over to Malfoy's side.

"I had to be careful not to be seen. But I posted it through the letter box. I.. s-saw her." Ron finished weakly. Hermione expected Malfoy to mock him again, but he looked quite serious. Ron continued. "She doesn't look right. Not herself - I can't-"

"Weasley." Malfoy interrupted, his preoccupied gaze fixed seriously on Ron. "My father has been released."

Ron's eyes widened. This clearly meant something to him - something that put Ron off the subject of Hermione's misery. Something that terrified him to his very core.

"So- so the Ministry have found an excuse?" Ron asked shakily.

Malfoy nodded.

"H-how?"

"I don't know." Malfoy replied to his incomplete question. "Hornrock, I suppose. He obviously can't carry on pretending that he's taking my father in for questioning all the time. He's been given a full pardon. Showed up at the Manor earlier."

"What did you do?" Ron asked wide eyed.

"Had to pretend I was happy, didn't I?" Malfoy sneered with disgust. "Had to pretend to be interested. I asked him a bunch of questions, but he wasn't giving anything away."

The pair sat in silence for a moment as Malfoy grasped onto his pint glass. His eyes appeared quite glazed now, and he croaked. "I need to earn his trust again. It's the only way."

Ron's face was scrunched, but he did not protest. It seemed that he quite agreed with Malfoy, although he didn't voice his opinion. He simply stood up quickly. "You can't be seen with me, then. If you need me, you know what to do."

Malfoy nodded, and Ron strode out of the pub without a backwards glance. The scene faded again.

Ron was sitting alone, leaning against a tree surrounded by woodlands. He looked lost in thought and his face was scrunched up again. He let out a breath, muttering something about a hat, and how he needed to get it before _they_ did.

"The hat..." Hermione turned to Harry. "Anala?"

Harry shrugged, though his worried gaze reflected Hermione's anxiety. Perhaps Hornrock wasn't sending them on a wild goose chase after all.

"It's in the Ministry..." Ron continued. "We need to get in-"

Ron appeared to be listening to something, but shook his head. "Too risky. I'll do it. "

It was then that Hermione put two and two together - he must be talking to Malfoy somehow. He was nowhere to be seen, however.

A crack behind them appeared to startle Ron. His wand held in front of him, he rushed to his feet and backed into the tree. A hissing noise was surrounding them now. Ron scrunched his eyes tight and disapparated.

It was dark now, and Ron was walking quietly down a near empty cobbled street, a vial of familiar looking potion held tightly in his hand. He was talking again.

"Are you sure? But how did you get- I see." He was saying. He glanced down wearily at the bottle he held in his hand. "He's out? Fine." Ron mumbled, disappearing out of sight around a dark corner for a second. Hermione, Harry and Ginny heard a spluttering sound and Hermione froze as Hornrock came out from the corner in Ron's place.

"How did they get the ingredients for Polyjuice potion?" Hermione heard Harry voice the very same question she had been asking herself.

"Malfoy Manor, I suspect." Hermione replied. Although this didn't answer their question fully. Hermione knew full well that in order to make Polyjuice potion, one must have some part of the person they want to turn into. The potion also took a month to brew. She had a feeling this memory was a bit on from when Ron and Malfoy had separated in the pub.

"I'm ready." Hornrock's gruff voice was saying as he disapparated, the apparation room in the Ministry of Magic forming before them.

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**As not to make my chapter lengths completely uneven, I did have to cut this one in half. I hope it was worth the wait! Thanks, as per usual, for reading. Please take the time to review, it does help me see what I'm doing right and what I can improve on. Next chapter will be up at the end of this week or start of next week. **


	15. Memory Lane

**Apologies for the delay guys, my Internet has been down for weeks. I'll try to get the next few chapters out as quick as I can!**

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They all watched as Hornrock - or _Ron_, rather - followed the path through the Ministry as though he were headed to the Department of Aurors. With the bumpy appearance of Hornrock, Ron made a swift turn down a corridor that Hermione didn't recognise, but made her feel uneasy all the same. Gone was the impressive decoration of the Ministry, and Ron was leading them down a dank, greyed out corridor. A corridor which seemed to go on for miles. There were various twists and turns, and Hermione watched as Ron consulted a piece of parchment in front of him before making a turn. _Directions_, Hermione concluded.

The passage was narrowing, and it was getting darker. Judging by the way the ground tilted, Ron was travelling deep underground. After what seemed like a good few hours, though, Ron came to a halt and drew his wand, keeping still.

"Who's there?" Ron asked, unable to keep the quiver from his voice. Hermione's stomach lurched.

There were three people surrounding him now.

"Enjoyable stroll, Weasley?" The tallest of them smirked. _Lucius Malfoy._ Despite the fact that his usually slick long hair near enough covered his entire face, Hermione would have recognised that evil smirk anywhere.

Ron seemed taken aback, but still held his wand steady. "Azkaban clearly hasn't agreed with you, Malfoy."

The two others scowled beside Malfoy, but Luicius simply chuckled. "You're one to talk. In love with a Mudbood? Typical blood traitor." Lucius spat.

Ron was shaking now, with rage. Before he could open his mouth to utter a curse, however, Malfoy had shot first. "Imperio!"

Hermione subconsciously gasped and gripped on to Harry's shoulder. She, Harry and Ginny watched in horror as Ron let out a loud swear word before doubling up in what sounded like pain.

Lucius stared expectantly with a questioning look. Clearly something had gone wrong. Ron was still writhing, though he seemed to be quickly gaining more control by the second.

"So, Weasley, immune to the Imperius curse are we? No matter." Luicius merely shrugged, sending an unexpected force of white hot anger pumping through Hermione's entire body. "Get him."

It happened too fast. Ron barely uttered "expel-" before he was grabbed from behind with a _crack_.

The scene faded again. Ron was in that familiar prison that Hermione had witnessed in her dreams and in person, however briefly. She felt a lump in her throat watching the person in front of her. It was evident that he had been here for quite some time. The all to familiar carvings looked fresh on his chest.

It took her a minute to realise that Ron was not alone. A hooded figure stood in front of him. Although he looked completely broken, he didn't look worried.

"You sent her the locket? And the note?" Ron was asking. His voice sounded crackly though.

The second voice brought Hermione to understand the hushed conversation. "Yes, and the hat has been hidden."

"Not destroyed?" Ron sounded bitter now.

"You don't think I tried that, Weasley?" Malfoy bit back. "I tried everything. Venom, curses, even feindfyre. It's not working."

Ron let out a frustrated growl. "Just... make sure Hermione is safe. But stay out of sight. They can't know what's going on. I need to protect them."

Malfoy rolled his eyes impatiently. "Wouldn't your little entourage be useful, considering your situation?" He looked pointedly at Ron's bindings, but Ron shook his head.

"I don't want to put my friends and family in danger. Some of them work for the Ministry. As soon as Hornrock suspects their involvement, they are in danger."

"Yet you had me send Hermione your note with the locket?" Malfoy sounded perplexed. "You don't think she should know what it does?"

Ron made to talk, but he could hear voices. To Hermione's surprise, he let out a shriek of intense pain, though it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. Malfoy quickly raised his wand towards Ron, scowling.

"Draco." The voice from behind him seemed to send a chill down Draco's spine.

"Yes, father?" Malfoy kept his gaze on Ron.

"That will be all. Did you get any information from him?"

A look of terror dawned on Draco's face as Lucius fixed his eyes on him. "He won't talk." His voice was a little shaky now.

Lucius steadied his gaze on his son. "Return to the manor. I will deal with you later."

Draco, out of Lucius's sight, set Ron a sincerely apologetic and fearful gaze before walking out of the room.

Lucius smirked, raising his wand. "Well, Weasley, I always say that if you want something done right you must do it yourself. Ready to talk?"

Ron's pained expression faded before them as the scene faded to Ron and Malfoy streaking down the corridors, Ginny gripped on to her brother's hand. Of course, this was the night they escaped. The trio were about to exit through the door that led into the church area, when Ron heard a scream. Hermione's scream. She watched as his usually pale face flushed whiter still.

"Take Ginny and get out of here." Ron let go of Ginny's hand, shoving her towards Malfoy, perhaps rougher than he had meant to. He didn't stop to apologise, though. Ron fled in the opposite direction without hesitation.

This time, the scene began to fade materialising them into the bedroom that they had been standing in the whole time. The Burrow. As much as questions still needed to be answered, Hermione gazed at Ron.

Why didn't he trust her? She could have helped. She could have been there with him. She couldn't help but feel a little betrayed and disappointed. Ron was still staring out the window, perched on the ledge. Before she could say anything though, she heard Ginny let out a low growl, clutching on to her stomach and collapsing.

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**I'm making no promises on when the next update will be, but I will try to get this finished as soon as possible. Don't worry, questions will be answered soon! We're nearing the end! Apologies again for keeping you all waiting!**


	16. Dream or Reality?

It had all been quite a blur. Hermione surveyed the room around her, where all the Weasleys were present. Ron sat next to her with his eyes drooping, and she was grasping onto his hand gently, stroking his knuckles with her thumb; all thoughts of betrayal forgotten for now. She was here for Ron.

Ron stood pale faced and brow furrowed beside Hermione. Excitement had died down several hours ago, and now the Weasley family were nervous wrecks, Hermione included.

Approximately fifteen hours had passed. Ron looked about to pass out. He was shaking.

"_Ron_", Hermione whispered, nudging his shoulder gently.

Ron barely stirred on her shoulder. "'m jst resting m'eyes" he mumbled, burrowing his head deeper.

"Yes, I know. You need a bed." Hermione frowned.

"No- Ginny..." Ron began, but Hermione was pulling him to his feet gently, and he hardly had the strength to finish his sentence before Hermione was saying her goodbyes to the Weasley family, Molly pulling them both into a warm hug and promising she would send her patronus as soon as there was news.

The Healer in charge of the maternity ward at St Mungoes was a plump witch by the name of Hilda. Hermione had greeted her earlier and engaged in a conversation about house elf rights, where Hermione had reminisced about S.P.E.W and the memory of Hermione and Ron's first kiss. Hilda was only three years younger than Hermione, but there was still a certain innocence about her that made Hermione feel so much older. Hermione flashed her a smile as she and Ron made their way to the Floo network set up near the hospital exit.

Ron practically fell into bed once they got home, snoring loudly as soon as he hit the mattress. Hermione let out a quiet chuckle. Truth be told, the locket was the furthest from her mind at that moment, but it quickly became the focus of her thoughts as soon as she had a moment to think about things, settled into bed beside Ron but far from tired.

Yes, Ginny was her family. Without a doubt. This was an important time, not only for Ron, but for Hermione too. But the locket was unsettling her. Could they really put it off for much longer? There was obviously something big going on. Something that had to be dealt with immediately.

Of course, she still had no idea what was inside the locket. Ron had said not to open it until she had found him, hadn't he? And there was still the matter of once again going against the Ministry. Just how many people were working with Hornrock, and what were they up to?

Ron shuffled beside her, mumbling something about pain. Hermione's brows furrowed as a guilty pang crossed her chest. Should she wake him? He needed sleep, and he wasn't thrashing about, but clearly his dream was far from pleasant. Rather quickly, however, Ron settled, snoring loudly once again.

It was funny; Hermione used to complain about Ron's snoring, but once he went missing she would have done anything to hear the sound again. She couldn't really have held her grudge about Ron keeping her in the dark about everything for long, even without Ginny distracting them from everything. They had lost far too much time already.

Then there was the fact that Ron still wasn't fully stable. He clearly had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

_Tomorrow_, Hermione promised herself, _we'll talk about it tomorrow._ Hornrock, after all, was unlikely to wait until a convenient time to carry out his plan, whatever it was, and someone had to stop it. Even if Ron and Harry couldn't be there. Hermione would stop him.

_"You think so, Granger?" Hornrock snorted from in front of her. They were standing in a dark room again. She had seen this room far too many times. _

_"This isn't real." Hermione attempted to poise herself, but her sentence came out rather shakily and her body was trembling. It was cold. Freezing, actually. _

_The clothes draped on her were ruined. Torn. Much like the rags they had found Ron in._

_Hornrock just snorted, but circled around her, grinning widely. It was possibly one of the creepiest facial expressions that Hermione had ever witnessed, and that included those of You-Know-Who in his reign of terror._

_"I'm real, Granger." A wicked laugh drew from his dry and cracked lips. "We are, however, inside your pretty little head." Hermione flinched, but Hornrock continued unfaltering. "I expect I will be seeing you soon."_

With that, Hermione shot upwards, her heart beating at a dangerously fast pace. She patted the bed beside her, before her hand fell on Ron's shoulder. He was still there. Something was amiss though. Her gut was twisting. Something was very, very wrong.

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**Guys, I am _so_ sorry about the unexpected lengthly hiatus. Life sort of got in the way. Then once my personal problems cleared up, there was GISHWHES which took up a hell of a lot of time. (So worth it though!) **

**Anyway, thank you all for being so patient while I sorted out my own personal shitstorm, haha. There are approximately three chapters to go here, so all shall be resolved soon. And as always, please review! **

**And I've started my next fic, though it's not Harry Potter related. Good news for Destiel shippers though! My head is swimming with ideas for those two adorable fuckers. I just want so much to smoosh their heads together. **

**Anyway, yes. I guess this note is kind of long, and went off topic. This is what happens when I'm gone for a while. So I'm just going to end with another apology, and hope that those who were reading before haven't given up on me! I'm making no promises about when the next chapter will be uploaded as my summer holidays have ended, but I certainly don't expect it to be as long as the wait for this chapter! **


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